


Up the summit, down the hill

by ppbbjj



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: Disability, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up, Long timespan, M for Language and Themes, M/M, Memes, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unreliable Narrator, World Travel, and afterwards the pace of the burn is like melting a wet rock with a flashlight, attempt to make Pokemon society realistic, everything before ch6 is nonshippy self-indulgent world building, if you're here for the ship beware, way too many references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 90,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23213608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ppbbjj/pseuds/ppbbjj
Summary: After losing the championship, Blue sets out on the journey of growing up.The story of how two kids deal with life, make some bad decisions, and learn to navigate the adult world and each other.*Warnings in intro notes where applicable (1 major, 3-4minor ones planned, overall not a tearjerker)*
Relationships: Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Comments: 68
Kudos: 200





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokemon has branched into a few multiverses, but there will be no timespace bending stuff. It's a death trap for plotholes and I haven't actually played after gen 5. (and also my nerd soul will ruin it with theoretical physics crap and nobody wants that)  
> I'll still include the new regions, but I'll treat the timeline as linear.  
> All locations are based on their real-life counterparts,  
> Kanto = Tokyo and surrounding prefectures Johto = Central and Kansai regions Hoenn = Southern Japan Sinnoh = Hokkaido  
> Unova = New York / Kalos = France / Alola = Hawaii / Galar = the UK  
> Betaed by reigning punctuation champion: anjumstar

_Screw summer! Screwsummerscrewsummerscrewsummer!_

If it were physically possible for Blue to scowl harder, he would. He could feel beads of sweat running down his brow, further deepening the livid creases of his face until it surely resembled something close to a constipated raisin slicked with cooking oil. As the Sevii Islands’ humidity latched itself onto every fibre of his being, Blue’s desire to rip his skin off grew to levels even his months-long pity party hadn’t sunk him to.

A fleeting breeze of cool air grazed across his scorching skin. The curtain separating the trainer’s resting quarters shifted, mocking the stoic pride that kept him grounded to the most inconspicuous seat in the Pokemon Centre’s reception.

Maybe there was no one there? Maybe, for once in his life, his hopes and dreams wouldn’t be shattered into pieces and fed to the Houndooms?

Yeah, no. He was already on the brink of homicide, he couldn’t risk getting blasted with more oohs and aahs and “Do you know where Red is now? I _really_ want to battle him!” Even proper ventilation wasn’t worth it.

Enduring the press, the fans, and worst of all, the sympathetic well-wishers for three months had already pushed him way past the end of his wits. Maybe if he did commit murder, the bane of his existence would finally crawl out of wherever he’d managed to stick his nose in this time. Oh yeah, Red, the warrior of justice, would surely come running at the opportunity to commit one final betrayal and throw his “best friend” in jail. And if Blue did kill some poor trainer-wannabe, it wouldn’t be much of a loss—one less sad loser who couldn’t get a life and move on from “Boy-wonder Defeats Mafia Boss In Dramatic Viridian Showdown, Goes On To Become Kanto Champion”.

This Centre really needed to update its newspapers. And put a goddamn aircon in the reception!

With a controlled, totally-not-losing-his-mind exhale, Blue opened the offending piece of journalism to the pages near the end, hoping they were menace-free.

“Johto Man Leaves Wife and Sells Business to Seek Missingno”

Some overworked salaryman had woken up one day, decided his life was meaningless, and left it all behind for a wild Farfetch’d chase. They called it a mid-life crisis. Getting so fed up with everything in your life that you just up and leave. No one’s technically stopping you. Maybe Blue was also having a mid-life crisis, at the ripe age of eleven and a half. He was, after all, planning to do the same as that guy.

Well, not exactly. He certainly wasn’t gonna go surf around Cinnabar like a madman. But other than that, he didn’t really have any ideas on what to do, just the itch to get away from it all.

As if on cue, his Pokegear beeped. Thankfully, it wasn’t Daisy worrying again. No, just another message from Lance. Those were getting more desperate by the minute.

He’d said no multiple times. He wasn’t gonna wait around for his geodudes to freeze off on the Indigo Plateau for anything less than being the actual champion. Although, if him and Lance got snowed in up there, a human Machamp with questionable fashion taste mauling him with an axe, screaming “Heeeeeere’s Lancyyy” sounded like a somewhat classy way to go.

The Viridian Gym offer was even more ridiculous. As if he had the patience to follow the gazillion restrictions on his battle style, items, and team. For what? To hand out badges to imbecilic kids and their “top-percentage Rattatas”? No, thanks.

But he had to do something.

He’d achieved his lifelong dream and was finally satisfied for a grand total of two hours and forty-five minutes. After that he’d lost. Again. As he always did.

With another exasperated sigh, he tossed the newspaper and headed to the second floor, trying to make his normally dashing presence invisible. It would be at least an hour before his Pokemon were healed, giving him ample time to figure out where to go next.

Returning to Pallet was out of the question. Even though his reign as Champion was the shortest in the region’s history, he’d still achieved it, making the next three years of middle school a waste of time. Everything the curriculum could offer was already ingrained in his brain. Skipping directly to high school was the logical option, but that’d require an actual idea about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

As he climbed the staircase, he tried to imagine himself as a doctor, an ace trainer, even a policeman, as useless as they were. The image of his future self in a lab coat still plagued him, but he’d gotten better at shoving it into the deepest corners of his mind.

When he neared the service bureau in the middle of the second floor, the guy manning it quietly gasped, recognition lighting up his eyes. With a forced smirk in place, Blue leaned on the counter and tried to summon his trademark casual bravado.

“‘Sup. I’m gettin kinda bored of Kanto. I was thinkin’ of going on vacation somewhere. Any suggestions?”

“Well, Hoenn and Johto have many popular destinations. Although, if you want to escape the heat, Sinnoh is beautiful and quite refreshing this time of the year.” The clerk started shuffling through his desk and pulled out a thick, glossy book. “Here, take a look at our travel catalogue.”

The first page was a concise contents list with hundreds of options sorted by region. Some offered a simple train or ferry ticket, while others were full-on tours with scheduled dates, accommodations, and activities lists, including sightseeing and Pokemon catching. Nothing sounded far enough.

He’d gathered quite a lot of attention in Kanto with his own accomplishments, but the news of the pest’s heroic journey had reverberated through the whole country, dragging his own name and picture along. Then the stupid merch had started coming out, a lot of it plastered with Blue’s own cocky smile. He’d long given up hope of finding any semblance of peace in his own country. Just showing his nose out meant getting swamped by all the looks, questions, and excitement. No matter how hard he tried to keep a low profile, someone always ended up recognizing him.

As he sulked, a small text in the corner of the page caught his attention: “For foreign destinations turn to p.89.” Curious, he skipped to the section and was greeted with a map, on which Nippon was just a tiny speck.

“Oh, International travel. Are you looking for a family vacation?”

Blue waved off the guy and took his time exploring through the sketches of the regions and their Pokemon. There was a ninja-frog in a field of wine bottles and longish loafs of bread, a bug buzzing with electricity next to pints of ale and a soccer ball, and a beautiful white Ninetails, surrounded by pineapples with straws sticking out and…coconut bras? He decided to pass on the Alola region after noticing the Pikachu-lookalike peeking from the corner of the section.

In his haste to look away from the yellow rat thingy, he caught sight of cheeseburgers with something like brown leather eggs bouncing around. Were those also Pokemon? No, wait! He’d watched enough Beikoku movies with Daisy. Mostly, he stuck for the ones with battles, explosions, gangsters, and killer-psychos, but he’d also seen some where buff dudes threw these around while lovestruck girls wrote in their diaries. There were a few destinations around the country, but Blue immediately looked up to the northeast coast of Beikoku. Unova. A living ice cream cone was smiling at him, next to a purple dragon with a blade on its head and a majestic, fiery bug.

A lot of Daisy’s favourite movies were set there, with young people trying to do something productive, but ending up dramatically making out in airports instead. Blue was not particularly interested in that part, but the Pokemon looked cool and Unova was supposedly one of the most vibrant places in the world.

He’d always preferred the fast pace of Celadon and Saffron to the oppressing familiarity of Pallet, where the only exciting time was the start of journey season when kids would go gramps’ lab to get their Pokemon. During the rest of the year, the only thing to do was simmer in boredom. A pang of nostalgia reminded him of someone who’d made the monotony slightly more bearable…

That train of thought had no right to exist and was thus swiftly obliterated. When had he turned into such a sap? Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to watch all those cheesy movies.

Shaking his thoughts off, Blue determinedly pointed at Unova.

“I’ll go here. Just a plane ticket, no tours. Whatever leaves soonest.”

The clerk looked at Blue, then at the map, then back at Blue with a raised eyebrow.

“Ummm…do you plan to travel with an adult? Please call them, they can buy the tickets.”

“Did I stutter? I said ticket. Singular. I have enough money.”

“I apologise, but I cannot sell a minor plane tickets to a foreign country. Please contact your parents.” The guy quickly realized his mistake and shook his head apologetically. “Umm, your legal guardian. If you want to travel without them, you will need a notarized permission letter.”

Blue glared back with all the might he could muster.

“The hell?! I don’t need anyone’s permission! I ain’t a schoolkid going on a field trip, I’m a Kanto champion. Does that even mean anything nowadays?!”

Okay, maybe he was throwing a tantrum, but he had no desire to speak to gramps, and he certainly didn’t need his permission for anything! There’d been a slight distaste in the professor’s eyes but the man had not seemed the least bit surprised that his brat of a grandson had brought yet another disappointment. Blue could take that—hell, it wasn’t far from the stuff he was thinking about himself. What’d hurt the most was the total indifference. Yes, his constant failures were certainly annoying, but the renowned Professor Oak was too busy fangirling over a certain prodigy to bother with Blue’s antics.

The thump of a heavy book being dropped on the desk brought him back to reality. The clerk, still looking apologetic, pointed to a paragraph in the chock load of tiny characters. Even with Blue’s above average knowledge of kanji, he still couldn’t read everything.

“I’m very sorry, but there’s nothing about Champions being exempt from underage aviation laws.”

“Where’s the logic in that? It’s legal for kids to deal with the mafia, but you can’t let us travel alone?!”

After a deep breath to regain his composure, he looked at the nametag on the guy’s shirt. Putting on his most adult voice, he tried to reason. “Takeda, right? Let’s be realistic here. It might not technically be written in the law, but I doubt there’s even a need for that. Not many people could take on a champion, let alone hurt them. I’m pretty sure my Pokemon can keep me safe wherever I go.”

Takeda did not look convinced. With a tired sigh that rivalled Blue’s own array of dramatic sighs, he looked up from the giant legal book, “Look, kid, if it were up to me, I’d give you the ticket and let airport security deal with you. But everything’s online now, and I need to input your data. If you don’t have a valid permission, the system won’t let me issue a ticket, period. Sorry. Just ask your grandpa. It’s a simple form that he has to sign at a notary office. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

Reality was bitch-slapping Blue so hard, he couldn’t even get annoyed at being addressed as “kid”.

The guy seemed to notice because he continued, “Why don’t you just go around Nippon? The whole country watched that fight, everyone’s so impressed with both of you. It’s not often that we have such strong champions here, especially anyone this young. You’re a celebrity now, enjoy it! I’m sure every region would be glad to have you.”

The praise caught him by surprise. He’d heard it all before, of course, but it was usually mixed with gushing about the nemesis and how amazing and brave, and selfless he was. When none of that followed, a slight pang of guilt started nagging him about being such an ass to the dude.

He pulled the travel catalogue from underneath the dry legal book and stared at Nippon, looking so tiny on the world map. Here, he was the pest that just stood in the way of the hero. He was the menace. Yes, some people acknowledged his skill, and most would probably admit they couldn’t take him in a battle. But that didn’t change the fact that Blue was a loser. His story in Nippon was done and it didn’t have a happy ending. Not for him at least.

He looked at Unova again and imagined being in the giant city, full of new Pokemon and new people, who wouldn’t know every single detail of his life. The mere thought filled him with the kind of determination he’d been missing for months now. He still remembered what the world was like a lifetime ago when only the sky was the limit. Bearing his grandpa for a few minutes seemed like a small price to pay to get that back. The Professor would probably be glad to be rid of him anyway.

“Thanks for the advice,” Blue tried his best not to sound sarcastic. “I think I’ll try the notary thing.”

“Thank you for using our services,” Takeda smiled and bowed politely, “and good luck wherever you end up,” he added, a bit less formally.

“Thanks. Smell ya!”

The reception downstairs was still blissfully empty except for the personnel. Not many people in their right minds went outside in the middle of the day in August. His battle team was still recovering, but Eevee had just woken up from her nap. Blue took the little sleeping beauty from the nurse and willingly presented his fingers for a few eager licks and nibs. At least she was in a good mood. She’d probably charmed the nurses enough to get some top shelf food.

“A sly little princess, aren’t you?” he hummed, scratching between her ears.

He used to avoid being cutesy with his Pokemon in public, even with Eevee, but he was past caring now. For the last few months, they’d been the only company he could bear. And if anyone thought he and Eevee looked weak, he’d really like to see them try taking her on. She’d retired from the main battle team a while ago, but never stopped training. His cutie was levels above most Pokemon they could ever encounter and her battle instincts were as sharp as her claws.

Eevee rubbed her head against his hand and closed her eyes, purring. Okay, maybe she didn’t look threatening, per se, but that was even better; she’d lower the enemy’s guard with her doe eyes and swiftly take them out.

“Yes, you’re more dangerous than any Dragonite,” he cooed, moving on to scratch under her chin which always made her putty.

Reluctant to ruin his good mood, Blue was tempted to procrastinate calling gramps, but the sooner he ripped off the band aid, the sooner he’d be on his way out of here. Back in the remote seat, this time with Eevee on his lap, he took out his Pokegear.

“Wish me luck,” he mumbled, burrowing his fingers in her fur and pressing the dial button.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo ye, I'm throwing this into the void. I've been reading fics for years and never had the balls to write one, but my English is seeping away, so here goes nothing. 
> 
> I'm not creative enough to think of alternate names for Japan and the US, so I'm just using the Japanese words for them.
> 
> Blue's thought process is likely nothing close to how an actual 11yr old thinks but pls attribute that to how life changing a Pokémon journey is and not to the fact that the author is too old for Pokémon and should probably be doing something more productive with their life.
> 
> Edit: stating this in the opening chapter: I'm really open to criticism! If anything bothers you, feel free to share.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know first gen came out in the 90s but I'm not setting this at any particular point in time. However, in the time of this chapter, there's still no such thing as mobile data or free wifi, but the internet is definitely a thing already. This is important context for some of the stuff here to make sense.

Blue honestly didn’t know what he’d expected. The conversation with gramps was short and to the point.

“Why Unova?”

“New Pokemon.”

“When?”

“As soon as possible.”

“For how long?”

“As long as possible.”

“Alright. I’ll have time on Wednesday afternoon. Meet me in Viridian to get the documents.”

If the Professor had noticed his grandson’s radio silence for the past three months, he didn’t show it. Blue’s internal turmoil was once again reduced to nothing of significance. No one but himself to blame on this one. Why did he have to care this much? Gramps sure didn’t.

The nurse’s call startled him a bit, but he quickly composed himself and went to pick up his team. The scalding air of the Sevii Islands was almost refreshing after the stale, stuffy atmosphere in the Centre. There was no point in keeping up the stubborn silence anymore, so he shot a quick message to Daisy, letting her know that yes, he was still alive, and he was coming back soon. After a moment’s consideration over whether Lance’s offers were even worth a reply, he decided his pride was not worth the constant bother. No, he would pass on the Elite Four and the Viridian Gym. It wasn’t his problem if Agatha and Lorelei were fed up with battling, Red was an irresponsible moron, and Giovanni was a crime lord in hiding.

Turning off his Pokegear, he went off to enjoy his remaining two days of blissful solitude.

***

The notary did indeed take about five minutes, but the visa was going to need a full week. The automatic 30-day tourist one was way too short for what Blue wanted, so he went for a year-long expert trainer one.

Viridian’s hustle and bustle was almost overwhelming after the months spent trying to avoid human civilization. The attention he used to thrive in now left a bitter taste in his mouth. No escaping the fans though. Both champions disappearing right after the match had added even more drama to their spectacle, making it ripe and ready for the crowds to eat up.

Blue set his iconic cocky smirk in motion, signed autographs, posed for pictures, and answered the endless questions.

“Where were you? What were you doing?”

“Here and there. Training, of course”

“Where’s Red?”

“Probably hiding. He knows I’ll be taking my title back as soon as he turns up.”

“What are you going to do now? Isn’t that the Beikoku embassy?”

“I’m going overseas to catch even stronger Pokemon.”

Keeping up the false bravado was exhausting, but he managed to hold it up for long enough to at least pacify the eager fans. It was all worth it when, after a quick wave and, “Smell ya later,” he theatrically flew off on Pidgeot’s wings, leaving the crowd along with gramps in the dust.

For once, the quiet of Pallet Town was a welcome change. There were some people walking around but they’d known him since he was in diapers, so a surprised wave and a warm smile was all they did to acknowledge his presence. Blue appreciated that more than he wanted to admit.

Nostalgia hit him on the short walk up to his house, pleasant memories of simpler times rushing back in. He felt like a kid again, full of hope and looking forward to his new adventure. Eevee gleefully meowed in his arms, probably eager to see Daisy again.

“Yeah, I miss her too.”

The last time they’d both seen his sister was almost half a year ago. He used to regularly leave her royal highness too-good-for-the-PC back at home when he wanted to train other Pokemon. Eevee, just like pretty much every Pokemon, adored Daisy, but Blue was always slightly annoyed whenever he’d get his warrior princess back with ribbons in her fur, smelling like a perfume store, and demanding snacks every ten minutes. Fortunately, around his seventh or eighth badge, he was pretty sure he was famous enough for cops not to care if he broke the 6-Pokemon law a little, as long as it was only outside of battle.

The door to their house was unlocked as always. The setting sun had cast a heavy shadow over the living room, prompting him to turn the lights on. Just as he was reaching for the switch, a bone-chilling glare froze him in place. Daisy was seated facing the door, staring at him with the face of someone sucking on a particularly zesty lemon.

Did she actually turn that bulky armchair around for dramatic effect? Wow. And how long had she been sitting there? He hadn’t exactly specified a time.

She stood up and started slowly creeping forward. Her hair was longer and her frame had gotten a little too thin, hollow cheeks increasing the intensity of her fuming expression. Blue tried to quickly think of something, anything, to save his skin, but his well of witty catchphrases was as dry as his throat.

A Deerling in headlights, a Magikarp out of water, a Weedle in his Pidgeot’s talons.

Towering over, Daisy lifted up her finger and harshly poked him in the chest. Eevee, the traitor, jumped out of his arms with an undignified mewl and bolted towards the kitchen.

“How.” Poke. “Dare.” Poke. “You.” Poke. Blue’s back hit the door. “You ungrateful brat! Don’t you have a phone? Don’t you have hands to send one single message? Don’t you have a working brain in that ingrate head of yours?!”

Her hand curled up in Blue’s shirt. He’d just about said his prayers when he was yanked forward into a hug that jellified his bones with the force of a thousand Machokes. His feet dangled in the air as Daisy bodily lifted him up. She should really ditch the medicine thing and consider a career in pro wrestling. As Blue’s oxygen started seeping out, he tapped his sister’s back

“Please…can’t…breathe…”

He was dropped unceremoniously, barely managing to regain his balance before being pulled by the ear and hurled onto the couch. Daisy remained standing, arms folded on her chest, and staring down at him with a slightly tearful, mostly murderous glare.

Despite how tight his throat was, Blue tried to lighten up the mood a bit. “Weren’t you a pacifier? That was pretty violent.”

“Pacifist,” Daisy uttered through her teeth.

Tough crowd.

“Sooo…how’s summer break going?”

Okay, now the glare was definitely murderous. He swallowed thickly.

“Blue, what were you thinking?” she asked, unsettlingly calm.

“Umm…I-I took a trip…Aren’t you all for nature healing and stuff?” He tried the joking tone again but at the slightest raise of her eyebrow, quickly continued a lot more serious. “Look, I…I just needed a break and took one. What’s the big deal?”

“Oh, what’s the big deal indeed?” She sounded almost sweet, if one ignored the blatant sarcasm poisoning her tone. “You know, I had to find out you were on the Sevii Islands from a trainer’s blog. Yes, a trainer’s blog, of all things. I called every Pokemon Center, every hospital, every morgue in Kanto and Johto, I called all the airports, all the train stations, _and_ all the docks. I’m guessing you didn’t take the ferry?” she finished with a sugary smile.

“I surfed on Blastoise,” Blue mumbled quietly, completely devoid of his usual snark.

“You did? Good for you! Even flying there isn’t legal, but you surfed? How original! Maybe I should’ve taken your creativity into account when I was looking for your dead body. Silly me! Well, imagine my surprise when three weeks ago, during my hourly internet search of your name, all your nicknames, and your Kalosian pseudonym, I found this blogger, who claimed the recent Champion Blue was, and I quote, kind of a dick, but still sharp in battle. Found him on the Sevii Islands, if anyone wants a shot.” A high-pitched chuckle left her lips. After staring him down some more, she sighed and continued in a much quieter voice, “I watched the battle, you know. I saw your face when you lost. I heard what grandpa said, and when you left you seemed…I called so many times but you never answered. Weeks passed and the last thing I saw was that look on your face…I started thinking horrible things, Blue.” Her last words were almost a whisper.

Crap. He’d felt bad every time he’d seen one of her messages, but never sent anything back, too obsessed with wallowing in his own misery. The only person left who still cared about him and he did nothing but worry her and talk back like the little shit he was.

“I’m sorry. Daisy, I’m really sorry. I should’ve picked up or texted…I just…I lost the title hours after I called you to brag and you sounded so proud, and I knew I’d disappointed you too…and, honestly, I just didn’t ‘wanna talk to anyone. Everyone saw me lose and I knew they’d mock me, cuz they were all cheering for him and I-" Daisy's expression morphed into tired exasperation as he blabbered. He was getting to her, but with all the stuff he'd put her through, he knew she was still waiting for a real apology. "Look, I know I was selfish. I didn’t think about how you’d feel. I’m sorry.” He finally mustered the courage to look at her, hoping she’d believe his sincerity.

The tension in her shoulders had disappeared somewhere along his desperate apology. She looked at him with eyes full of undeserved affection.

“You know,” she said plopping down on the couch like a sack of tired potatoes, “for such a witty brat you can be such an idiot sometimes.” Pulling his head on her shoulder, she started rubbing soothing circles along his back until he’d fully relaxed into the embrace. “I’ll always be proud of you, Blue. No matter if you’re a Champion or a Magikarp enthusiast. The only thing I want you to be is happy. And winning is not always the point.” She sighed softly. “Life…doesn’t always go as planned. You’ll make mistakes and you’ll fail. The biggest win you can hope for is to forgive yourself and move on.”

Blue felt five years old again, curled up in his sister’s lap after he’d broken a toy, or got into a fight with Red, or got scolded by grandpa. He’d bawl his eyes out while Daisy quietly told him stories of legendary Pokemon and trainers, assuring him that the world was much bigger than his problems, and everything would be all right in due time.

“You should channel all that wisdom and write one of those self-help books. Heard they’re selling like hotcakes.”

She let out an amused huff and lightly smacked his shoulder. He was already forgiven, but that didn’t make him feel like a less horrible brother.

“I’m really sorry, sis. I’ll always write back from now on. Promise.”

“You better! And gramps said something about Unova? You don’t even speak Galarian—why are you going there?”

“Hey, we studied it in school and you’ve made me sit through so many dumb movies and shows, I can practically understand it now.”

“You do realise they had subtitles, right? You were reading a translation. There’s no subtitles in real life.”

“Oh, come on, it doesn’t sound that hard. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you actually serious?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m leaving in a week. Just waiting for the visa now.”

“A week?!” She jerked upwards, turning him sideways to face her startled expression. She looked like she was about to explode again, but after a moment her hands fell. “If you pull something like that again, I’m coming there and dragging you back to Nippon. Are we clear?”

He nodded hastily, partially out of fear, but truly determined to keep his promise. With a sigh, Daisy leaned back on the sofa. They both looked down when a soft thump came from below. Eevee was looking up expectantly, with packs of Blue’s favourite caramel-white chocolate Lava cookies and Daisy’s usual pick of custard cream ones waiting for them on the ground.

They picked up the snacks and Eevee and started eating while Daisy told him details about Unova she’d gathered upon her trip with friends last year.

“By the way, why are you waiting for a visa? They just stamped ours on arrival. Did they change the law or something?”

“Oh, that? I’m getting a trainer’s one. I’ll be staying for a year.”

Judging by her reaction, Blue was pretty sure if she hadn’t been holding Eevee, the only place he’d be going to was the afterlife.

***

The following week was pure hell. When he woke up the next morning, his Pokegear had a dictionary app. He asked Daisy about it, only to be completely ignored. After twenty minutes of confused whining, she finally acknowledged him, saying something incomprehensible and pointing at his Pokegear. From that point on, she only spoke in Galarian and refused to answer to anything else.

Her high school textbooks were a lot harder than the simple words and structures he’d studied before. Blue’s days were spent going over grammar explanations and vocabulary lists, while at night they’d watch a movie or TV show with Galarian subtitles only. Daisy would pause every ten to fifteen minutes, making him create a written summary of what he’d seen, then correcting the misspelt words, misused particles, and wrong verb tenses.

His only escapes were a few brief training sessions and a visit to check on Red’s mom.

On the morning of his visit, he found Delia sipping coffee and reading a newspaper. The door opening seemed to startle her, but the moment she saw Blue, she hurried over and swept him in a gentle hug, completely at ease with cooing her own son’s nemesis. To be fair, she’d always treated him with kindness, often having to take care of them when Daisy was still too young and gramps was, as always, holed up in the lab, so Blue wasn’t completely surprised at being sat down, given a hot cocoa, and prompted to tell her everything while she made him pancakes. She’d already heard about a large part of Blue’s journey from either Daisy or the news, but he filled her in on his time on Victory Road and the Sevii Islands.

Blue was the one who eventually brought up Red. He knew Delia well enough to recognise the flash of pain passing through her features before she had the chance to compose herself. Apparently, the idiot’s scarce texts had ceased months ago and she had to find out what’s happening from Blue’s occasional rants to Daisy and later on the TV. Somehow his rival managed to beat him even at making an ass of himself.

Delia kept repeating “All kids leave home someday” and “No news is good news” like some sort of mantra, but the smile plastered on her face did not look the least bit convincing. He knew Daisy was going to be here for her, but Blue still hugged her a bit tighter before heading out.

***

Daisy finally decided to have mercy on him on the last night before the flight and returned to speaking Nihongo. She’d drunk tea by the litre and stress-baked the whole day, whipping out a giant feast for dinner. They chatted about what places he should visit, what Pokemon he should try to catch, which restaurants had the best pizza. Blue ate until he felt round enough to roll down to the airport himself instead of getting a ride.

Unfortunately, gramps just had to pick that night in particular to come home before midnight. For some reason, he even decided to join them for dessert, ruining any chance for the easy atmosphere to return. Daisy was ecstatic at first and as usual tried to get a conversation going, but Blue’s pig-headedness and gramps’ apathy made sure her goal was about as achievable as a Rhyhorn’s dream of being a figure skater.

She ditched them with a scoff when she’d had enough quality family time, and went on to check Blue’s backpack and documents for the thirtieth time that day.

The two remaining Oaks stared at their food in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Go to Professor Juniper in Nuvema town, I’ve asked her to update your Pokedex with Unovan data.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“They have Pokegears with internet connection that are very convenient.”

“I’ll get one.”

“Always have all the documents on you—they’re a bit wary of foreigners there.”

“Will do.”

“Are you certain you have enough money?”

“Yeah. I can always battle if I need more.”

“Good.”

That seemed to be the limit of how much gramps could care for one day. He bid a stiff goodnight and retreated to his bedroom.

Blue stood up shortly after and started packing up the leftovers. Daisy joined him and they quickly settled into their old routine, one washing the dishes, one patting them dry and putting everything away. They worked in comfortable silence, finishing up quickly.

“Go get some sleep. Don’t set an alarm, I’ll wake you up.”

“Go sleep yourself, I already got the good genes—you’re the one who needs all the beauty sleep she can get.”

The usual banter was back in full swing after being forced out of action for a whole week. Blue’s retort earned him a hard pinch on the cheek and he was sternly ordered to bed, quietly mumbling how there was “nothing peaceful about pacifism.”

***

The need to be at the airport four and a half hours before a flight would forever remain a mystery to Blue. He’d been yanked out of bed at the ass crack of dawn by commanding general Daisy, who’d put the household under martial law. Even gramps and Eevee fell victim to her madness, being instructed to go pee before the car ride a record eighty times in the total of thirty minutes designated for morning routines. He could’ve just flown on Pidgeot—Saffron wasn’t that far—but no, there had to be a dramatic procession, complete with teary goodbyes and death threats if he didn’t write emails at least twice a month.

The check in was a lot less scary than Daisy had made it out to be. The only part that sucked was being allowed to bring only one full team of Pokemon for free and having to give them all up to be transported as luggage. As downright disrespectful as it was, he’d insisted on paying for his own airfare and taking even one Pokeball on board almost doubled the already hefty price.

Feeling vulnerable without his team, Blue found a quiet corner in the duty-free area where he hoped fans wouldn’t pass by. With almost two hours to kill thanks to Daisy’s insanity, he buried his face in the daily newspaper.

“High On Oddish Powder, Machete-wielding Johto Man Chases Neighbour With Lawn Mower”

At least he wasn’t going to Johto.

His flight’s boarding announcement came through just as Blue was done with the paper. Except for a few curious gazes, he managed to get on the plane without much fanfare.

After thirty minutes, all the passengers were strapped in and the giant body of the machine started slowly making its way to the takeoff lane. Once there, it smoothly accelerated until they were steadily climbing upwards. Blue’s ears popped as the airport, then Saffron became smaller and smaller until the view was blocked by a layer of clouds. He thought about the eleven years he’d spent in Kanto. Up in the air they seemed much less turbulent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand another 3k into the internet void.
> 
> I feel like my writing is too rambly, but this all felt important for character building. The pace should pick up but that slow burn in the tags isn't a joke. If i pull through with this thing it's gonna be looooooong


	3. Chapter 3

Plane rides weren’t that bad. Yeah, being confined in a small space for fourteen hours wasn’t exactly a dream come true, but the staff were polite, the food wasn’t horrible, and he got to nap and catch up on some movies.

Travelling lightly had definitely been the right decision. He didn’t envy the crowd swarming the luggage carousel, their tired faces looking about as jolly as a pratfall of tragic clowns in oversized I ♥ UNV t-shirts.

First order of business was retrieving his Pokemon and passing the numerous arrival procedures, which took an eternity. By the time he got out, it was already dark. The distant lights of Mistralton City cast a soft glow under the veil of night, as Blue wondered where to plant his ass until morning came.

He hadn’t bothered to book hotels, although Daisy did warn against sleeping in Pokemon Centres. Apparently, really shady people lurked in them in Unova, but he was confident enough in his ability to look after himself. Nightfall made flying on Pidgeot in a new region impossible, so Blue decided to head straight for the local Centre despite his sister’s paranoia.

Walking around, he concluded that Mistralton was more of a suburb. There didn’t seem to be much activity, save for some late-night construction near the airport and a few people going in and out of a cargo facility.

The PokeCenter was close enough, looking pretty much the same as the ones in Nippon, just combined with PokeMarts, harbouring slightly newer-looking tech and a lot more dust. The only person in the lobby other than the staff was a tall guy in a worn-out trench coat, who looked up from his magazine at the sound of the opening doors and creepily smiled at Blue. Okay, point for Daisy.

He hurried to the front desk and carefully said one of the important phrases he’d memorised:

“Hello. I would like accommodation for tonight.”

The nurse smiled politely and slowly asked for his journey card or trainer’s license. Blue proudly handed the ID and didn’t fail to notice the awe in her eyes as she saw the big platinum star, signifying his status as Champion.

“Welcome to the Mistralton Pokemon Centre, Mr. Oak. The trainers’ quarters have a TV, a computer, and vending machines. The bathroom is down the hall. Please wear slippers and use your own products. Your room for tonight will be 203 on the second floor. If you want to extend your stay, you can do so without charge for up to three more days. Have a pleasant stay!”

Hopefully, all PokeCentres had staff as slow-spoken and calm as this one. Although, they were near a big international airport, so he supposed the nurse was experienced in dealing with foreigners.

The TV buzzing in the empty lounge area confirmed the nurse had definitely slowed down for him. He could barely understand a word of the dramatic screaming going on in whatever show was airing. He sat down on the PC and shot a quick email to Daisy. Thankfully, the bulky thing had a decent number of international keyboards, so Blue could at least write in his native language.

Someone tapped his shoulder just as he was sending the message. The weirdo from the foyer, huh. As he smiled, his lanky figure towering over Blue, a few greasy strands of greying hair made their way out from under his hat. The cartoon-villain look didn’t seem to be an ironic choice, which in itself was distracting enough that Blue forgot to listen to whatever the creep was saying. He did catch the word “battle” and combined with the slimy tone, it amounted to enough of a taunt for him.

Doing his best angelic smile, he eagerly replied with the other vital phrase he’d memorised.

“Sure, let’s battle!”

The walk to the centre’s yard took longer than the match, as Eevee, battling just for kicks, made a toothpick out of the fool’s purple cat. Judging by the money he got, scamming tourists was a lucrative business around these parts.

He noticed they had an audience, a red-haired girl around his age who quickly ran over and started blabbering his ear off.

“Hi, I’m Skyla. I live here in Mistralton … something , something , Pokemon journey… something , something ...one day be a Gym Leader!”

There was at least a 75% chance the redhead wanted to battle as well, so he just nodded confidently and hoped it was an appropriate response. As she took her stance, he remembered Arcanine had an Amulet Coin and threw his ball. A slight mistake, as it turned out when the girl’s first choice was a bossy-looking water bird.

Damn, he really needed to get that dex upgrade soon and learn about the Pokemon of the region. He decided to risk it a bit and ordered an Extreme Speed, mostly sure the sheer attack power and the obvious difference in levels would knock out the fluffy white thing. It sure did, after which Blue breezed through her four remaining birds, even though they were all a lot stronger than that creep’s cat. The girl was a legit trainer, judging by the large award sum, as usual the standard 1% of the account linked with her Pokeballs, doubled by his Amulet Coin.

Skyla didn’t seem too sad about losing, but had probably noticed him giving orders in a different language, since she spoke a lot more clearly:

“That was a great battle! Where are you from? Are you a gym leader?”

“No, I’m Blue, a Champion of Kanto,” he replied, proudly showing off his license.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod I heard about… something, something, something …EPIC!”

He grinned and did the finger guns. This was an Unovan greeting, right? She grinned back and continued, “Well, thank you for battling me, Blue! It was something to meet you.”

Her extended hand was a bit puzzling, but he recalled this was pretty much their version of bowing. Playing into it, he shook the outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you too! You’re a not bad trainer.”

With a slightly confused smile, Skyla handed him her Pokegear to write down his email, which she happily saved and went on her merry way with a quick, “I’ll beat you one day, Champion Blue!”

Pleasantly tired, he headed back into the Pokemon Centre and called it a night.

***

The flight to Nuvema Town was short, Pidgeot’s wings easily slashing through the air as they soared above forests and towns alike. Blue curiously gazed at the ground below, eager to explore the new region and record all those new Pokemon’s data.

Professor Juniper’s lab wasn’t hard to find. Thanks to gramps, she’d expected Blue’s arrival and after a bit of miscommunication, got one of her lab assistants to translate. The thick Sinnoh accent of the woman was music to his ears after the constant bombardment with Galarian. She briefly explained the Pokedex updates, as well as some patterns of Unovan Pokemon, such as nocturnal or seasonal tendencies. Blue listened with half an ear, already impatient to find it all out for himself.

He significantly perked up when they asked if he’d like to choose one of the starter Pokemon usually given to kids. They all looked like they had potential, but he just had to go with Snivy, the tiny green lizard that stared Blue down like he was a piece of gum stuck on the sidewalk.

After thanking the Professor, Blue set out on his (second) Pokemon adventure, Eevee as always at his heel.

***

Unovan Pokemon were an interesting bunch. There were the typical “pets” every region had, little birdies, kitties, doggies, rodents, and so on. Due to the diverse climate, there was also a decent amount of Pokemon from other countries, including Nippon. And then there were the truly bizarre-looking creatures, like the literal pile of trash that scared the living shit out of him when it suddenly moved from where it was stinking up the tall grass.

Nuvema, just like Pallet back home, was surrounded by pretty harmless, easy to train Pokemon, so it had the honour of being the starting point for Unovan kids’ journeys. He caught some of the entry-level Pokemon, just to record their data, and released them. It was standard procedure for nearly every Pokemon on the way, except a modest Mareep with close to perfects IVs, and an adorable Axew with an adamant strive to get stronger.

He trained them both alongside the little Snivy from the lab. It was always a bummer when he had to deposit members of his regular team, but Rhydon readily went to the PC; she had sensitive ears and really hated noisy places. Blastoise and Exeggutor followed after Blue informed them about the subzero temperatures expected to hit in less than two months after the deceitful early September warmth.

The cities and towns that followed got increasingly dynamic, as the feeling of being in a giant megapolis finally began to settle. The Pokemon Centres were grimier and more crowded, the streets were busier, and the buildings taller. He took his time exploring all the Pokemon habitats, even did a bit of sightseeing, but vehemently tried to dodge the people, although not always successfully.

As much as he wanted to avoid embarrassing himself, he still ended up talking to locals, mostly thanks to Eevee, whom everyone wanted to pet, or the occasional superfan recognising him. Unovians were welcoming, but he still hated how dumb he sounded in Galarian, although there was some improvement after the numerous times he had to frantically search his dictionary.

They didn’t visit any of the gyms though. Those were designed with newbie trainers in mind and since he hadn’t defeated the Unovan league, the leaders couldn’t give him a match with their advanced teams. Even learning about their Pokemon and battling styles didn’t make the hassle worth it.

He still had to battle, as there were quite a few kids set out on their journeys, as well as some adult trainers who insisted on taking him on. They even had some formats he hadn’t seen before, the most bizarre of which were rotation battles. Adjusting to the different battling styles provided some decent brain gymnastics, jolting his strategic bones awake for the first time in months. It was kind of refreshing to once again train lower levels instead of relying on his overpowered Pokemon to sweep through everything. He didn’t particularly miss the need to always be aware of the opponent’s stats in order to properly EV train, but it was also part of the process, so he sucked it up.

As time went on, Snivy grew into an even more condescending Servine, who now had an additional few centimetres from which he could snobbishly glare at the world of lesser mortals. Mareep became a pink Flaaffy with sparkling white wool covering her head, and Axew, although still too low of a level to evolve, had significantly improved his Attack through some hardcore EV training.

After some pets and apologetic berries, Blue decided to put Pidgeot back in favour of Golduck, who was a master of most land and water-travel HMs. He left Alakazam and Arcanine from his original team, just in case a surprisingly strong opponent came. Eevee was, as always, out of her Pokeball, but, just as in Kanto, no one seemed to mind.

The regular emails to Daisy summarised his progress on the Unovan Pokedex and described some of the funnier situations he’d gotten himself into. In his fourth email, he was rambling about finally heading to Castelia and Nimbasa, eager to see the bustling cities that were the setting of so many people’s dreams.

The long walk across Skyarrow bridge was a journey in itself. He battled some of the trainers loitering around and did his best to avoid getting killed by a speeding bicycle. Going forward, he found himself staring at the orange hues dancing across the river, luring him forward towards the city landscape basked in the golden rays of the setting sun. The view was so overwhelmingly beautiful, one could easily feel as though standing at the gates of heaven.

***

Well, if heaven turned out to be a filthy sensory overload, Blue’s wild imagination called it first. Castelia was definitely similar to Celadon in the rapid pace with which everything moved, but there was something thrilling, almost dangerous in the air—besides the pollution. Maybe it was the aggression in the honks of annoyed drivers or the funny smells lingering in the air or the smog creeping into every pore of his body.

Despite all that, or maybe because of it, Blue was mesmerized. He confidently walked the busy streets, easily blending in with the crowd. Between Castelia and Nimbasa, he saw all kinds of people. Self-important businessmen hurried to their next meeting as rich ladies and gents walked their groomed Pokemon, and loud vendors pulled stray pedestrians to tiny stalls. He had to carry Eevee in his arms, otherwise she might’ve clawed off the eyes of the next idiot who stepped on her tail.

He visited all the tourist attractions Daisy had told him about, as well as some he’d stumbled upon himself. The numerous department stores put a dent in his wallet, but at least now he had some much-needed winter clothes, a bunch of those fancy new Pokeballs, EV training supplements, and some interesting TMs that seemed like they might be useful. He was more than impressed at how Unovians had managed to make the things reusable.

After a bit more than a week spent between the two cities, Blue found himself waiting in line at the theatre to see the musical adaptation of a famous play he’d read. Out of nowhere, a group of teen girls clad in bizarre, corseted ballerina-dress concoctions and fake cat ears started screaming and ran towards him like a wild Taurus stampede in gothic tutus. His delicious slice of pizza ended up the tragic victim of that encounter, its divine sauce now gracing the pavement instead of his taste buds. As the majority of the tribe harassed Eevee, one of the weirdos screeched something unintelligible that was apparently supposed to be: “Hello! You’re cute!” in butchered Nihongo.

They left him alone after he gave them a cheese and tomato sauce-covered grin and a few autographs on his own and Red’s (the audacity!?) pictures.

At least the musical was good, unlike the uncomfortable bunker bed in the communal Pokemon Centre bedroom. A private room now seemed like a distant dream. Maybe the fumes from the mysterious green spots in the bathroom were making him hallucinate that he’d ever experienced a better mattress than the thing currently acupuncturing his body. Technically, he had enough money to afford a hotel before he reached the 14-week limit on free PokeCenter stays, but his Pokemon deserved premium snacks and he did need a flight back. He’d treat himself to a normal bed for his birthday, if the lymph nodes in his back didn’t kill him before he turned twelve.

The one thing he allowed himself to splurge on was a single 30-minute data purchase on his fancy PokeGear in order to send his regular email on the way from Nimbasa to Castelia. There was no way he was catching a disease from one of the grime-covered computers in the nearby Centres. He quickly typed while walking through the surprisingly chilly for late October Desert Resort. He had to give it to Unovians—this mobile data thing was pretty convenient. Still not worth the 10 pizza slices it cost him per hour though.

He spent his last 12 minutes of internet browsing through Nippon news websites. Nothing about his arch enemy but apparently “Johto Man’s Church Lost Tax-Exempt Status Because It’s Just A Nightclub.” Blue officially decided he’d only visit Johto in a hazmat suit and with a suitcase full of bottled water.

His pleasant walk got interrupted when he almost fell, hitting his leg hard on something that was definitely not sand. Finally paying attention to his surroundings, he realized he’d strayed quite far from the passing route. The dunes below him looked normal at first glance, but after brushing off the sand that covered whatever he’d smashed his toes in, Blue found golden bricks aligned in a square, in the middle of which stood a lid with strange symbols carved into it. He tried pulling it up but the thing didn’t even budge. There was likely nothing but sand underneath, but his curiosity got the better of him. After a quick look around to make sure there was no one in the area, he took Alakazam out of his ball and asked him to levitate the heavy cover.

A golden ladder peeked out of a small squarish space lined with engraved golden bricks. Daylight didn’t do much to reveal what was at the end of the hole. Eevee sniffed into the opened space and curiously gazed at Blue.

“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s even worth going in there. Probably just one of those disaster shelters Unovians keep.”

She pointedly looked at the pit.

“You really think there’s anything interesting?”

Eevee rolled her eyes at that and went to Blue’s discarded backpack, opening it with her teeth.

“Okay, okay, we’re going,” he said, putting her in and carefully zipping around her delicate fur. “But if I end up ruining my new clothes for nothing, I’m signing you up for those beauty contests. It’s about time you started pulling your weight in this family—my wardrobe and your fancy snacks aren’t free you kn—ouch! That hurt!”

He quickly withdrew a freshly nicked finger from the scowling little head sticking out from his bag. With a sigh, he strapped in and headed to the dusty entrance.

The descent was pretty unnerving. At some point, all traces of light from the outside were lost and he had to navigate downwards in pitch darkness until his feet finally hit solid ground. He turned on his Pokegear, using the dim light to unzip Eevee and pull out the Flash TM. Flaaffy quickly picked up the move and soon enough the space around them was illuminated by the soft glow from her tail. They were in a tunnel, fully covered in gold marked by those same weird characters. The path ahead seemed to stretch on for a while, so Blue headed onwards, hoping this wasn’t a complete waste of time.

There were some scattered items lying around, as well as lots of sand. On his way to pocket a Super Potion, he suddenly felt his left leg was lower than his right. And he was significantly shorter than before. And he was sinking.

When moving his legs didn’t work, he tried to drag himself out by his arms. Eevee and Flaaffy both pulled his sleeve, but Blue quickly ordered them to stay back, scared they’d also fall. He stilled his fidgeting and reached for Alakazam’s ball. He came out, hovering over the quicksand pit with a raised eyebrow at his trainer’s current state.

“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m dumb, will you pull me out? Pretty please,” he even fluttered his lashes, which only managed to get sand in his eyes. As he rubbed his face, his feet instinctively moved as well, the pressure that had immobilized his posterior suddenly gone from the knee down.

“Wait, stop. Can you lower me further?”

Alakazam’s mocking expression turned puzzled and slightly concerned.

“I think there’s something down there. I’ll hold my breath, lower me as much as you can, if you don’t hear anything in a minute, just pull me back up.”

After a short staring match and more eyebrow raising, his Pokemon finally obeyed. Blue felt his body sinking further until he thumped down on his ass. Hard.

“I said lower, not throw!” he shouted.

Alakazam quickly teleported down and checked Blue’s body for any damage besides the bruised ego.

“You’re such a grandma. I’m fine. It was a short fall and the sand was shallow. I didn’t inhale any.”

Seemingly satisfied that the only damage to Blue remained the unresolved granddaddy issues, Alakazam brought Eevee and Flaaffy down as well and retreated to his ball after telepathically smacking his trainer’s head with a spoon.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of his ball today,” Blue mumbled and looked around the new tunnel they were in. It was pretty much the same thing, except here they got jumped by Pokemon in the shape of those strange letters on the walls. He caught one and the Pokedex quickly informed him the thing was called Unown and had…28 forms. They all had the same weak stats and didn’t evolve further, so he didn’t bother catching more of them. After a few encounters, he even sacrificed a bottle of Repel to keep the things at bay.

The whole floor seemed like a giant dead end. When walking back though, Blue saw another quicksand trap? Gate? Whatever that was, there were piles of it on each of the new floors he reached. There were also a lot of stairs. And still no sunlight—just gold and that damned sand.

The whole thing started getting really repetitive after the fourth sinkhole, which led to yet another dark corridor. He almost up and left, but suddenly, Eevee mewled and perked her ears.

“You hear something?”

She growled in acknowledgment and dashed ahead in the darkness. As he ran after her, he noticed Flaaffy’s Flash wasn’t the only source of light anymore. There was a soft, reddish glow coming from behind a rock pile at what seemed to be the end of the corridor.

Eevee was already, there, sniffing around the pile until she jumped away with a squeak and impatiently urged Blue over. He started hearing a faint buzz that got stronger the closer to the pile he got.

“When did it get so ho—Whoa…”

Two piercing blue eyes stared at him from between the rocks. A pitch-black head surrounded by glowing red scales sat atop a coat of white fur covered in debris and sand. Intense heat surrounded the trapped insect, blazing wings flaring up dangerously under the mass.

Blue quickly sent out Alakazam and this time the Pokemon didn’t even wait for his command before assessing the situation and carefully removing the large boulders from a safe distance. One of them had trapped a part of the Pokemon’s wings, the wound oozing a clear orange liquid mixed with dirt and sand. The freed creature, a bug by the looks of it, started violently flapping its good wings but barely managed to get off the ground before it dropped back down.

“Hey, hey, calm down. I can help you, but you’ll have to stop moving and lower the heat a bit.” Blue tried to sound calm and reasonable while Eevee, Flaaffy and Alakazam all tried to talk to it, but the bug he now remembered from that travel catalogue, continued thrashing around.

“Hey, no, stop that. Calm down.”

It started screeching in pain. All the movement made its limp wing flap around and release even more of the liquid.

“Volcarona! Volcarona, right? Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you. Just let me help.”

It seemed to calm down a bit, or maybe the pain got too strong to keep moving. As the adrenaline seeped away, its body heat lowered enough that Blue could get closer and spray a Hyper Potion. The wounds angrily sizzled, but Volcarona only hissed, remaining still.

Most of the cuts and bruises on its body sealed up, but one of its wings still dangled lifelessly. The bug gave up on trying to move it after a few futile attempts. As much as he hated seeing a Pokemon look so devastated, there wasn’t much he could do from there. He was no doctor and none of his Pokemon had healing moves. There was only one option left.

“Look, I’m kinda out of my depth here, but if you don’t mind going into a Pokeball, I can take you to a Pokemon Centre. They can help you. I’m sure you’ll be able to fly again. And I’ll release you after you’re all patched up. Promise.”

Volcarona tensed up at the sight of the ball, but after a few more failed attempts to fly and an encouraging mewl from Eevee, it took the sphere, curling it up in its belly. Upon examining it thoroughly, it looked at Blue again, traces of suspicion still lingering in its eyes.

“Don’t worry, I promise I’ll release you if you really don’t wanna stay with us. But we gotta get you healed up first. It’ll stop the pain.”

A few more moments of contemplative silence passed, but Volcarona seemed to have finally deemed him trustworthy. It pressed the Pokeball button with its stinger, which of course did nothing but make a clicking sound.

“I’m sure you’d make a great trainer, but it’s gotta be a human who presses this.”

Displeased that it couldn’t catch itself, Volcarona rolled the ball in Blue’s direction.

“You ready?”

Some harmless sparks in his direction came as confirmation and he pressed the button with a reassuring smile. He switched the ball to its inactive state, as his Pokedex beeped. Wow, Volcarona was powerful. And a girl, apparently.

“All right, let’s get the hell outta here.”

***

Blue climbed out to the surface covered in dirt and probably looking like he’d risen from his own grave. There was sand all over his clothes, in his hair, in his mouth, and in places where no sand should ever be allowed to enter. Flaaffy had gone back to her ball, but Eevee was a trooper, staying by his side with her normally gleaming fur now grimy and a bit stinky.

He really needed to get to a Pokemon Centre to help Volcarona, clean his Pokemon, and hopefully shower. However, since Blue Oak was a great person, he took Alakazam out to close the lid to that death trap and prevent other Pokemon or people from going in.

Just as they were done, he heard a piercing shout.

“YOUNG MAN! What exactly do you think you’re doing? This was something , something … illegal move… something law.”

Blue knew the word i-lle-gal from somewhere but his scraps of leftover brain capacity were barely enough to register the angry ranger in front of him, let alone analyse her vocabulary.

“Let me see your license immediately .”

He obediently handed his card, eager for this to be over with as soon as possible.

“Hmpf, you might be a Champion, Blue Oak, but that doesn’t give you the right to use Pokemon outside of battle like that. You should know how dangerous that is and you should definitely know what the legal moves are. Hand over your Pokeballs and come with me please.”

He’d probably misunderstood something key there, right?

“Give you my Pokeballs? Why?”

Eevee pitifully mewed, trying to use her charm on the pissed woman.

“Ooh, aren’t you a cute one. What have you put the poor thing through? Put it in its Pokeball as well and hand them over. You’re coming to the station with me.”

“What station? And why should I give you my Pokemon?”

Okay, this was getting irritating. What did this woman want? If this was a Team Rocket-style robbery attempt, he’d rather get to the battling and leave already.

“Young man you’re being…on the grounds of illegal…of Pokemon outside of battle. You have the right to volun-…hand over your Pokeballs and remain silent. If you refuse, I have the right to use force.”

“Use force? Are you robbing me?”

He swiftly reached for Arcanine’s Pokeball, but before he could do anything, the ranger grabbed his palm, twisted his hand behind his back, and cuffed his wrists together. Eevee was growling and about to jump to Blue’s rescue, but the ranger pressed a button on a weird radio-like machine and his Pokemon was forcefully returned to her ball.

“I’ll be taking all of your active Pokeballs, Mr Oak. One, two, three…why do you have seven?”

Oh no.

Blue finally realized what was happening when she slapped the handcuffs on. He hadn’t known rangers could arrest people! But now that he knew, he realized he’d been caught not only abusing Pokemon’s powers outside of battle, but also carrying more active Pokeballs than the law allowed. He was screwed.

***

After the tense car ride back to Nimbasa, Blue found himself cuffed to a table in the police station with two officers in front of him screaming in rapid-fire Galarian. He understood some of it, but even when he tried to answer, the words wouldn’t come out. He tried speaking in Nihongo but it just got them angrier. After a while of that, they shoved him into a dirtier room and left him there to simmer.

The next person who entered was a small but intimidating woman in a business suit, holding a briefcase.

“Hello, Blue. I’m Misaki Preston. Very pleased to meet you, although not under the most favourable circumstances. You’ve got yourself in a bit of trouble here, huh?” she said in the slow, dragged out manner, typical of Johto-ben.

“What’s happening? The hell do they want from me?” He was just tired now. Yeah, he’d broken the rules, but he hadn’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. Why were they treating him like a criminal?

“Oh, those pigs had no right! You might not be a citizen, but your visa is completely legal, they should’ve brought an attorney right away,” she said sitting down on the chair across from him. “Before we begin, I have to warn you that I’m not a public defender. These aren’t exactly business hours, so I was the only criminal lawyer fluent in Nihongo and available on such short notice. Do you want me to take your case?”

He quickly nodded. The sooner he was out of here, the better.

“Okay then, tell me exactly what happened.”

Blue summarised the best he could, answering her questions quickly and to the point. When she’d gotten what she needed, Misaki perkily sat up and headed for the door with a smile.

“Give me just a few minutes. Also, don’t worry—I’ll send someone to uncuff you and give you some water. This is ridiculous.”

After a minute, he found himself slowly sipping the cup offered by a grumpy officer and feeling about as refreshed as the splotches of mold on the grimy wall.

Misaki came back quickly, startling him as he tried to pull his brain out of its numb trance.

“Good news, champ. I drilled some sense into those idiots and you’re not going to be deported, go to court, or anything as absurd. I even got them to realize the “resisting arrest” business was just a bit of miscommunication. They’ll let you off with a warning, no black points or license suspensions.”

After sitting down, she pulled a folder out of her case.

“There’ll just be a fine. It’s a bit hefty, since you used an Alakazam, who is already an S-rank in the hazard classifications, and a level 74 one at that, which multiplies the whole thing by a factor of 5.” She was pointing stuff on a piece of paper. Blue tried to follow but got lost again as she continued, “As for the extra active Pokeball, those vultures always take the highest levelled one. Your cute little Eevee is only a rank C but that level 81 gives you a factor of 6.”

The papers had a lot of Galarian, and a lot of numbers, and Blue’s brain was still refusing to cooperate. He nodded again, his throat too dry to speak.

“The total sum comes up to this,” said Misaki pointing at the bottom of the page. That was a big number. A very big number. Way more than he had. More than he’d ever had, actually, even before the plane ticket and shopping sprees. Blue swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, it’s a lot. They’re very serious about this in Beikoku. Their whole country was made during a violent revolution in which they used Pokemon’s powers as weapons. Scary stuff. Anyways, the fine can be paid by bank transfer or by credit card online. It’s a bit early in Nippon right now, but I’ll contact your guardia—”

“No!” He almost jumped at her words, suddenly in panic mode again. Nononononono, there was no way he’d let gramps find out about him being arrested of all things. “Please don’t call home! I’ll pay it myself, I’ll do anything, just please don’t!”

Misaki was a bit taken aback, but she continued in a calm voice, “Blue, this is a big sum. No kid without a job can pay that, even a Champion. Just let me call your grandfather. This shouldn’t be too much of a finan—”

“No, please, you don’t understand. He already hates me—if he finds out about this, he’ll probably disown me, don’t, just please don’t!”

His whole body was shaking now. He tried to ground himself by digging his fingers in the rotting wooden table but it didn’t help much. Misaki was looking at him as if he were a frightened Pokemon.

“He’s your grandpa, Blue. I’m sure he doesn’t hate you. Let’s just see what he says before we...” she stopped when she saw the terrified look in his eyes. “Okay, okay, just calm down. Technically, I’m not legally obliged to call a guardian, since you came with a permission letter, which gives you partial emancipation. So okay, let’s say we don’t contact your grandpa. Can you pay by yourself?” Her voice was kind, but stern.

“Not right now. But I’ll get the money, I just need a bit of time.”

“I’m afraid a repayment plan cannot work with your visa. For that kind of sum, the shortest plans are a year. You only have ten months left in the country.”

“Please, there’s gotta be some way…”

Misaki looked at him for a long time and let out a tired sigh.

“There is a clause I can swing. You pay half of it now and have six months to pay the rest. It’s usually for contractors and the like, but there’s no law saying a kid can’t use it…”

“Yes, yes, I’ll do that!”

“Do you have enough to cover half?”

Blue tried to remember what was left of his account. It was probably not enough on its own but maybe if he…

“Can I sell items? I have a lot, some are very expensive.”

The lawyer lifted an elegant eyebrow at that.

“Umm…you’re not under arrest anymore, so I guess you can have your belongings back. But they won’t let you out of the station before the fine is settled one way or another.”

“Can I sell them here?”

“I’m afraid not. The only thing that works at this hour is probably the Pokemon Centre.”

“Can you sell them for me?” His voice was brimming with a mixture of hope and desperation.

Misaki looked completely at a loss at the request.

“For Arceus’ sake, kid, you have some convincing puppy-dog eyes. I shouldn’t even be considering letting you try to pay yourself.”

“Please!”

After a long pause, Misaki’s features softened into a bittersweet smile.

“I had strict parents as well, you know. I understand, but this is…You know what, okay. I remember hating when adults would constantly underestimate me. Worst-case scenario, you can’t pay and the authorities call your grandpa anyway, so fine. Let’s get this over with.” She was about to stand up, but paused. “Do you mind signing an autograph for my husband? Your battle with that other boy finally got him to watch the Nippon leagues with me. He’s a huge fan.”

Blue couldn’t help but snort a bit at the ridiculousness of signing an autograph in an interrogation room. He hadn’t felt much like a celebrity for the past few hours, but he quickly snapped out of it, grinning brightly with a dash of his usual charm back. He diligently signed a sticky note and they headed out.

After checking his account on his retrieved Pokegear, he sent Misaki out with a request to just sell it all. The important battle items were already on his Pokemon, everything else was more or less disposable.

She came back quickly, handing him an empty backpack and soon after, a payment notice due six months from now.

“Just about enough, huh? I guess my payment for tonight will have to be that autograph,” she said teasingly.

Shit. He’d forgotten about that. Blue looked down in shame, but Misaki squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Thankfully, I’m not on a trainer’s salary, so I’ll live with some pro bono work. It was great to meet you, despite the circumstances,” she said with a warm smile. “My husband will not believe what happened, hah, this totally beats that one time a gym leader hit him with her bike!”

“Say hi for me. It was nice meeting you too. And thank you,” he said with a deep bow. “Thank you very, very much and I apologise for causing you such an inconvenience!”

“Sheesh, I told ya not to worry about it,” she grinned. After ruffling Blue’s hair, she continued a bit more seriously, “Good luck in life. And keep yourself out of trouble!”

He nodded earnestly and left the station with a classic, “Smell ya later!”

***

It was already the middle of the night when Blue reached the Pokemon Centre and finally handed his team and Volcarona in, explaining her situation. The nurse took the ball and headed inside, leaving Blue to deposit Golduck in the PC. He wouldn’t risk breaking the law ever again in Beikoku. Or Nippon, even. Jails didn’t allow Pokemon and he’d seen enough movies about fugitives to know it wasn’t a glamorous lifestyle. Though, in almost every film, they could’ve just used a Ditto or Zoroark to morph into their body falling off a cliff or something, but no, there always had to be a police battle scene and more hiding. He’d probably make a better fugitive than all those hunky super spies.

Directing the blockbuster of his own escape from justice and subsequent miserable, lonely death distracted him enough to almost miss the nurse’s return. “The damage is severe, but she’ll make a full recovery. You can pick her up in the morning. Here are the rest of your Pokemon. Will you be staying the night?”

God, yes, he needed sleep. And a shower! He nodded eagerly.

“Welcome back, trainer Blue. Since this is your fifth night in a row, a fee will be taken from your account. Feel free to choose a bed. Have a pleasant stay!”

He let a freshly clean Eevee out of her ball and was just heading to the trainer’s quarters when the nurse exclaimed:

“Just a second, please. There’s a problem with your account. Would you like to pay in cash?”

Crap.

He quickly checked his pockets and…he had about enough change for a bottle of water.

“Umm…I think I’ll get a hotel. I’ll be back in the morning.”

He hurried out of there, hoping it was a different nurse on shift tomorrow.

Crap.

Pidgeot was not with him and Blue was not going back to that Centre again.

Crap, crap, crap.

Too tired to walk all the way to Castelia, he wandered the streets of Nimbasa looking for a place to sleep. The parks were open but there was all kinds of shady stuff going on in there at this time of night. Maybe a street bench? No, too risky; if both he and Eevee fell asleep, someone might steal his other Pokemon.

He finally found a cold storage building in one of the further neighbourhoods. It was cold and damp and kind of creepy, but it seemed empty and had a roof. He found an out-of-sight corner and sank to the floor. Eevee sat on his lap and stared at him with worried eyes.

“I’ve really done it this time, huh?” Blue mumbled weakly.

She gave a gentle lick to the inside of his wrist, but for once that didn’t help.

“How am I such an idiot?!”

Yes, this time he couldn’t blame gramps or Red, just his own stupidity. As if a dam had broken, Blue was hit with some harsh realisations about his situation. He was stranded in a foreign country. He couldn’t speak the language. He had no friends here, no family, no money, just a huge debt he had no idea how to repay. And he was cold and hungry and filthy.

His body started shaking. The thought of bringing Arcanine out for a bit of warmth came up, but there was no way Blue’d let his Pokemon see him like this. He’d already failed them once by humiliating them and himself in front of the whole country.

What sort of a trainer couldn’t even afford a place to sleep?

A loser. A failure. A fucking idiot on top of it all.

He hadn’t cried in years, not even when he’d lost that cursed title. But now he couldn’t stop the silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Eevee was pushing his chest with tiny paws, her alarmed mewing barely reaching his ears. He tried to smile down at her, comfort her, but it came out more of a grimace.

Of course he’d failed again. He couldn’t even get a grip and stop worrying the very few who actually gave a shit about his sorry existance. He almost laughed at how pathetic he was, crying like a baby and making his Pokemon sleep in abandoned buildings. But he couldn’t laugh without hysteria, he couldn’t smile comfortingly, he couldn’t even stop the stupid, stupid tears.

So he gave in. He was a failure in everything but crying. Amazing. Just grand.

Oh, yes, here it was, the dam was definitely broken and so was Blue’s sanity as he hugged Eevee, hiding his dirty face in her fur and probably traumatising her for life.

They stayed like that for who knew how long until Blue had no more tears left, just dry hiccups. Exhaustion finally hit him and, despite his manic breathing, he fell into a dreamless slumber, lulled by Eevee’s soothing nuzzling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darkness, my old friend  
> Sooo this chapter took my soul away. Why did I decide to write about a country I've never visited and literally only know stuff about from memes??? Because I love gen 5 Pokémon. 
> 
> I started getting so nitpicky about the dumbest little details but thankfully that was over quick. I did restart my Black save tho, so points for trying.
> 
> Also, I know nothing about law and it probably shows. Will probably compensate with very unnecessary sciency explanations later on


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Volcarona's level: technically, it evolves into Volcarona at lvl 59. However, in BW2 there's one you can find in the ruins that's lvl 35. I'm kinda imagining this is the same one, just five years earlier, so it'd be around lvl20.

There was a leak somewhere in this place. The sound of dripping water pierced through Blue’s head, every tiny drop resonating in his skull. He gave up on trying to sleep more, but had no energy to get up from the cold ground. Nope, definitely not ready to face the day yet.

Keeping his eyes shut, he absent-mindedly petted Eevee’s thick fur. Except it wasn’t thick anymore, but very short, like tiny blades of silk. And her body felt weird, too big, too heavy, and too muscly.

Suddenly very much awake, he jumped up and stared down at where Eevee had fallen asleep. A long, black ear encircled by gold lazily shot up and the Pokemon turned, gazing at him with black irises in a pool of blood red.

“Eevee?!”

It responded with a low cry, completely different from Eevee’s. Blue had a pretty good guess about what was going on, but got his Pokedex out just to confirm.

Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokemon.

“You evolved?!”

Another low cry.

“But you never wanted to! Every time I’d even look at a stone, you gave me the silent treatment for days. And how did you even find moonlight in here?”

Umbreon rolled her eyes like her trainer was a moron and got up to stretch.

“Whoa, you’re bigger. No more backpack rides, I guess.”

She gave him a cocky side glance, lowering the front part of her body and jumping forward with incredible agility.

“Okay, okay, I get it, you don’t need rides anymore,” he said, kneeling down and scratching behind her ears and under the chin, “You’re still a spoiled little princess, though,” he teased, as unfamiliar but expected low purrs ensured.

They stayed in there a bit longer, playing around and testing what Umbreon’s new body was capable of. She was fast, nimble, and moved without a sound like a ninja. Blue proudly watched as she gracefully landed a particularly flashy jump. After a standing ovation, he reached into his bag to give her a snack, only to find a few gum wrappers. With a sigh, he started packing up and turned to Umbreon, trying not to let his quickly dampened mood show.

“Let’s go check on Volcarona and get you some breakfast.”

***

The early mornings had started getting colder and Blue was grateful that he’d thought ahead for once and bought winter clothes before the arrest fiasco. He was still dirty and kind of embarrassed to walk around like that, but no one paid him much attention at the PokeCenter.

Volcarona had, thankfully, made a full recovery. After Umbreon ate, they all went outside and Blue released the fiery bug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. And look who evolved overnight—isn’t she awesome! Umbreon, show her how the circles glow!”

Volcarona buzzed in approval.

“So, I promised to release you. But if you wanna travel with us you’re welcome to stay. We’re from another country, so if you wanna see Nippon, I can take you with us. We’re also gonna explore Unova…like, very thoroughly cuz I kinda got myself into a little situation last night after we met. You’re very powerful, so I could really use your help, if you feel like an adventure…”

Volcarona tilted her head, as if asking what sort of trouble could he have gotten into over a few hours.

“Eh, it’s a long story, but basically, we’ll have to battle a lot and find a lot of stuff to sell. You don’t have to decide now, of course! We can battle a bit together and see if we’re a match.”

After a little more staring at Blue and a long conversation with Umbreon, Volcarona hesitantly nodded.

“Great! I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team and tell you all what the plan is.”

A brief stop at the Castelia PokeCentre later, Blue was finally clean and flew them all on Pidgeot back to Nuvema Town.

Once on the outskirts of the town, he let everyone out for a quick meet and greet. Flaaffy was warm and welcoming to Volcarona, Axew approached with cautious interest, and Servine seemed mildly terrified, but did his best to keep up the usual air of superiority. Pidgeot regarded the bug with respect, quickly sensing its potential power. After the introductions, Umbreon showed off her new form, letting the golden circles around her body light up, and savouring the attention.

Blue just watched them interact for a while, but soon enough playtime was over. He lined them up like soldiers before war and outlined the plan.

“Okay, team, listen up! Your trainer is a real dumbass and now we need to get a lot of money in six months. Grind mode activated, boys and girls. We battle everyone with an Amulet Coin, we take every item, we talk to everyone, and we’ll even use this thing.” He pulled out his good old Dowsing Machine, used for about a week before the constant beeping almost gave him an aneurysm. “We’ll sell to collectors and PokeMarts and only keep the bare minimum. Gym money is usually the best, but they won’t just let us battle the rich ones. We gotta start from the beginning like every newbie.”

He paused to check their reactions. Pidgeot was mildly concerned, Umbreon knew the gist of it, so she was already off chasing a Patrat while Serperior and Axew looked at Blue like he’d grown a second head. Volcarona just seemed amused. Bless Flaaffy’s beautiful soul—she was the only serious one.

“The first few gyms are gonna be easy, so I’ll use the time to train the new guys. Pidgeot, you’re too advanced to get anything out of battling for now—I’ll take Golduck for cave and ocean expeditions.” The bird nodded, probably thinking she was too old for this anyway. “Servine, Flaaffy, Axew, Volcarona, you guys will be the main team. Umbreon is always here if we encounter someone unexpectedly strong, but it’s still gonna be tiring, so be prepared.”

He was about to leave it at that but the numerous accusations of being harsh on his Pokemon had gotten under his skin over the past year. Not that those people, or gramps for that matter, actually knew him or how their team worked. He was stern, but he knew their limits and only pushed when he was sure they could handle it. His Pokemon had challenged Blue, liked his no-nonsense battling style, and chosen him as their trainer. They were just as ambitious as him and wanted someone to help them reach their full potential. But, of course, none of those idiots who judged him cared to notice how much trust their hard work together had built. He had no regrets about how he’d trained. As far as he could see, his Pokemon enjoyed becoming powerful under a competent trainer just as much as he enjoyed winning.

But then again, those four were still young, and being a bit softer with them in the beginning couldn’t hurt. He cleared his throat to get their attention back from where they were playing in the tall grass. “By the way, just to clarify, you guys can cop out anytime if things get too hard. This is gonna be some intense training. Are you sure you’re okay with all that?”

Like trainer, like Pokemon. All four had perked up at the challenge and were now daring him to see if they’d ever turn down battling. It was settled then.

They made a brief stop at Professor Juniper’s lab, where she recorded his new Pokedex data and gave him a Pokegear upgrade that could transcribe whatever other people were saying. It was mainly for deaf trainers, but with the language barrier, Blue wanted to take all the help he could get. At least now he’d get unknown words’ spellings on the first try when looking them up. He switched Pidgeot with Golduck and briefed him about what was happening. He was also on board, so they all set out on route one.

***

The first few weeks were tedious. He’d forgotten what it’s like to explore without an infinite stash of Repels and healing items. Umbreon’s threatening glances managed to ward off some of the wild Pokemon, but they still got jumped all the time. It was especially annoying if it turned out they’d walked deep into a cave or the tall grass for a simple Pokeball or Potion.

He used the wild encounters for EV training, which tired out the team quickly, so they also had to make frequent trips back to PokeCentres. He even had to go back and forth between towns when he exceeded the stupid limit of 5 days of consecutive stay at a single Centre. It was nothing like how he’d swept through Kanto, quickly registering all the Pokemon of each area, defeating gym after gym, and only waiting for his idiot rival to catch up.

After a while, the constant battles gave results and Blue now had Serperior, Ampharos, and Fraxure in his team. Umbreon was also eager to train, so they switched up her moveset to one that worked great with her Dark type and amazing defence stats. Not that she really had to battle that much. Most matches went smoothly. The trainers close to the starting point who Blue had avoided like the plague on his first run were mostly newbies.

Talking to people was the real difficult part. Most of the trainers would introduce themselves briefly and get on with the battle. Some, however, were very chatty or curious about Blue and Nippon. It happened even more often with regular citizens than trainers. Some of the fanciest items he’d gotten in Kanto were handed down from folks he’d let yabber away about their own bygone journeys. At the beginning, his instincts had been to criticise their strategies and explain why they hadn’t reached the higher-level gyms, but he’d quickly found out that people weren’t too fond of being (subtly!) called morons, so he’d learned his lesson to keep it light if he wanted whatever items they had to offer. It’d been kind of a chore to sit there and nod politely until they’d had enough reminiscing, but the occasional material rewards had made it worth his while.

It wasn’t that different in Unova, although he took it one step further to really make sure he’d get something worth selling. Wanting a willing audience for your own ego trip was a universal human thing, so he did his best to pretend every single stranger’s story was an awe-inspiring epic tale of adventure and character growth, even though for the most part it boiled down to their starter evolving and collecting a few badges before they had to go back to school. He found out that in order to get the good shit, he had to seem attentive—gasp and nod at appropriate times and make sure to ask questions as if he actually cared. It was kinda tough with his limited vocabulary, so the whole ordeal usually included a lot of hand gestures, pointing at stuff, and awkwardly pausing to look at a dictionary.

It wasn’t all bad, though. As he started understanding more, he got to learn a lot about the region’s history and culture. Unova was kind of wild. Many people had gone to wars and some of them even had their own combat-trained Pokemon or guns, which was pretty cool. There were people from all over the world who’d come to live here and he learned about places and Pokemon he’d never heard of.

They were moving at a pretty decent pace but he couldn’t even brag about it to Daisy. Passing through the same cities all over again would seem beyond suspicious, so instead he filled the page with explanations about local Pokemon and how his own team’s training was going. She seemed pleased enough in her responses, so Blue hoped he’d dodged that bullet for now.

***

His birthday came just as he reached Castelia. A sweet granny who owned a bakery treated him to delicious cake and sent him off with Pokemon snacks and a few muffins. It was certainly a better celebratory dinner than vending machine garbage.

This time, it took a while to properly explore the city. On his first run, he’d mostly stayed in the entertainment district, but now he finally visited the docks, as well as all those intimidating office buildings and fancy hotels, where a lot of the people were bored enough to want a battle.

He even had a full-on showdown with a few company workers in one of the skyscrapers. Those Game Freak guys were insanely tough. After defeating the first one by a lot of strategizing and some luck, Blue quickly ran to the PokeCentre to get his Kanto team for the other battles.

It was the most fun he’d had in months, but his mood quickly fell when they started explaining what their company did and Blue understood about diddly squat of it with all the lengthy words mixed in there. From that day on, every night he looked over his logged conversations and wrote down each unknown word and its translation. He barely got any sleep at first, but soon enough some commonly used patterns became obvious. Thanks to his phenomenal memory, the excruciating task started taking less time sooner rather than later

About two weeks after his birthday, just as he finished exploring Castelia, Blue’s 14 weeks of yearly free stays at the Beikoku National Pokemon Centre Association ended. He understood the limit was there to keep kids in schools, people at their jobs, accommodation businesses afloat, and yadayada, but that didn’t mean he liked it. At least they still healed and fed Pokemon for free, although, as he found out after getting a minor cut on his leg cleaned and stitched, it got very expensive for humans here. How could a few stitches cost almost fifty Super Repels?! He’d already splurged enough, so he invested in a first aid kit as well, to avoid any future hits to his slowly growing bank account.

The weather had started to get very cold, so he had to settle for sleeping in the sewers and letting out Volcarona for warmth. It worked a little too well, since he’d often wake up clad in sweat. There were plenty of lakes and rivers outside the city where he could wash his clothes and take baths, but going through the giant sewer network and back alleys took a full week and Blue just prayed he’d actually be able to wash off the stink. He might be a hobo, but he didn’t have to smell like one.

***

New Year’s was still a big deal in Unova, but in quite a different way than he was used to. Instead of families gathering in shrines like in Nippon, Nimbasa was in full-on party mode. Even in his less than dandy mood, some of the exhilaration got to him and he gave the team a small break to celebrate.

They joined the thousands of people watching the countdown in the city square. He had the sense to decline the fizzy drinks numerous strangers offered, but splurged a bit on a hot chocolate to sip on while the grand Pokemon show and numerous performances took place. He felt almost hopeful watching the fireworks ripple through the night sky in bursts of colour as Earth concluded another lap around the sun.

After sleeping in a little the next morning, they continued on their quest for repayment. Passing by the police station in Nimbasa gave him shivers, so when the public holidays were all done, he got the badge, did some efficient networking, and bolted out of there in a little more than a week.

***

The road to Driftveil was long but worth it. He was finally getting away from the chaos of the densely populated parts of Unova and could enjoy some peace and quiet. Also, now that he’d finished his new Pokemon’s EV training, they didn’t have to battle every single wild encounter and were able to charge ahead at a much more rapid pace.

The Quake Badge was easy-peasy, but Chargestone Cave wasn’t exactly accommodating. It wasn’t like he hadn’t slept in caves before; he’d reached the Pokemon Center time limit in Kanto as well, despite the rapid pace at which he moved through the region.

He probably could’ve become Champion in two or three months if he hadn’t idiotically spent half his time waiting for Mr. Mafia Hunter to catch up after every badge. Stupid Red would’ve probably enjoyed this whole one-with-nature bullshit, the barbarian he was, but in Blue’s opinion, electricity and plumbing were wonderful perks of modern civilisation that he deeply mourned the loss of.

At the end of January, he found himself in Mistralton again. The Jet badge was not much of a challenge either, but the leader surprised him with a few clever strategies. After he got it, Blue sent a quick text to Skyla, letting her know he was in town if she wanted a rematch. He let his Pokemon dine in the Centre and used the computer to write his regular email to Daisy.

Somehow, news about him taking on the Unova League had reached all the way to Nippon and she was asking a lot of questions. He tried to answer as truthfully as possible, which meant he kept it vague and hoped that would be the end of it. Why couldn’t people just forget about him already—he wasn’t even the Champion. Oh, right, Red was still completely under the radar, so people took the second-best option.

For a moment he was kind of worried. Red had always had a tendency to do random shit without telling anyone (including Blue, who’d then have to get him out of whatever mess he’d made) but half a year was a long time, even for him. Leave it to the nemesis to get himself killed in an alley before Blue could have a rematch. But as much as he hated to admit it, Red was strong. He was probably just fine, hiding away from the attention and the masses of “boring people” like the weirdo loner he was.

The beep of his phone startled him: a text from Skyla written in all caps and filled with exclamation points that basically said to meet tomorrow afternoon. Plenty of time to check out the Celestial Tower then.

An exhausting night of battling ghost Pokemon and psychic trainers later, Golduck surfed them all to Mistralton Cave. They did a bit of exploring in the morning, but headed back to the town for a late lunch and to meet with a certain bubbly redhead. They’d exchanged a few emails and switched to texts, so he almost considered her a friend by now.

“Holy Arceus, what happened to you?!” Skyla’s reaction wasn’t surprising, but she could’ve at least tried to be subtle.

“Long story. Wanna battle?”

“Bro, you look like you’ve battled enough. Umm…why don’t you come to my house and rest for a bit? My folks won’t mind.”

Blue was a little surprised by the offer. True, he didn’t look his best right now, but it couldn’t be that bad. His clothes were mostly clean, just ripped and burned in a few places. He’d found out Volcarona’s wings were flammable the hard way. His hair probably looked like a bird’s nest, with the last of his styling gel long gone. Come to think of it, he hadn’t looked in a mirror for at least a few weeks. Maybe a proper shower wasn’t a bad idea.

“Well, if you insist, I guess I could.”

A short walk to a cute suburban home later, he settled for standing in the hallway, afraid to step in with his shoes on, no matter how many times Skyla assured him it was okay. Well, he also didn’t want to risk dirtying their furniture with any accidental grime he’d missed while washing.

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t just stand there—make yourself at home. Shoes are totally fine. See – I’m keeping mine on. Come on now, you don’t seem like the shy type. My parents won’t be back for a few hours, but I’ll get you some towels. You can take a bath. You look like you could use one.”

He gingerly sat on the couch, giving Umbreon a hesitant nod to come lie at his feet. At least she was clean. The PokeCentre had bathed her thoroughly after their little cave exploration.

“Oh, is that Eevee? She’s so beautiful, wow! Here, my grandpa made some snacks. They’re really good, try them. You can also play with Swanna in the yard if you want to.”

Umbreon happily headed outside with homemade PokeBiscuits in her mouth, leaving her trainer to awkwardly wait in the living room. At least Skyla was quick to come back with towels and some of her dad’s old clothes.

Okay, yes, a long bath had definitely been a good idea. He hadn’t felt that refreshed in a while, although the new clothes did feel a bit weird, hanging too long and way too loose on his bony frame. He took a long look in the mirror and noticed quite a few changes. His hair was longer and he was definitely not pulling it off. Constantly being outside for so long had also made it much lighter; the ceiling light reflecting something close to a ginger hue off of it. His cheeks were a little hollow, but at least his eyes were the usual poop brown with specks of undigested salad peeking out. The fabulous look was complemented by his ashy skin tone and bloodied, chapped lips.

Making himself look less like a child of the woods was a lost cause with the fuck all he had on hand, so he swept his fingers through the most tangled parts of his hair and called it a day. He’d spent way too long in the bathroom, judging by the darkness in the hallway and the unfamiliar woman cooking in the kitchen.

“Oh, you must be Blue! I’m Lauren, Skyla’s mom. She’s been talking about that battle with you for months. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet the Kanto Champion,” she quickly wiped her hands and went to shake his.

“Thank you for having me, ma’am. I didn’t mean to be a bother, I’ll just take Umbreon and we’ll head out.”

“Nonsense! Please stay for dinner. And your Umbreon is such a charmer. My husband and Skyla are playing with her outside. I had to scold them for making too much noise. Though, I'm guessing they’re still chasing each other around the yard,” she said with a laugh.

“Sorry for the trouble,” he quickly bowed in apology. He really had to teach Umbreon to behave a little with strangers.

“Oh, honey, you’re so polite, such a gallant young man. Please, don’t worry about it. I’d be with them if someone didn’t have to feed their sorry asses,” she shouted that last part loud enough that the aforementioned sorry asses quickly came back inside with wide grins.

“Blue! Skyla has told me so much about you! Can I see your Pidgeot? And that Ampharos that wiped my father’s team, hahah! That must’ve been some show!”

“Dad,” Skyla whined, “why did you tell him about grandpa? It was supposed to be a surprise!”

Yeah, the fruit definitely hadn’t fallen far from the tree. Skyla’s father was just as hyper about birds as his father and daughter. The man seemed pretty cheery too, quickly going to shake his hand and pat him on the back.

“Sorry, hun. Maybe next time. I’m Aeron! I’m the local cargo plane pilot. Tell me everything about Nippon—I’ve always wanted to go there! My dad was a fighter pilot back in his glory days and he did an exhibition show for the World Tournament in Hoenn in the ‘80s. He’s told me so many stories about how beautiful it is there.”

As they set the table, Blue told them about the nature and Pokemon of his homeland, feeling a bit nostalgic as he went on. They went outside where he showed them his current team and Skyla gabbed about how next time she’d definitely beat him.

When Ms. Lauren called them for dinner, Sir Heighton, the Mistralton Gym leader was sitting at the table, sipping from a steaming cup.

“Hello again, champ. Glad to have you here.”

Blue bowed deeply in respect; the man had been a great opponent, as far as gym battles went.

“Thank you, sir. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at the gym. Skyla never told me.” He gave her the stink eye. She made a weird face in return. Brat.

“No worries! She told us about you months ago but I didn’t expect you to be so young. Maybe we can have a rematch later, but how about we eat first?”

They sat around the table and Blue tried to restrain himself, but he hadn’t eaten homemade food in months. Skyla’s mom was an amazing cook, so even though the dishes were unfamiliar, they tasted great and he readily accepted seconds. They talked a lot and he was pretty proud of himself for understanding almost everything.

It was all going great until Skyla’s dad asked where he was staying. They had been so good to him, so he decided to be honest and admit that he was sort of sleeping in caves for now. As their jaws collectively dropped, he did his best to explain how he ended up being arrested and in debt.

“But you were trying to help! You saved a Pokemon and sealed a death trap. Why would they arrest you?” Blue appreciated Skyla’s anger, but he was just glad he didn’t get deported or have his grandpa involved.

“It’s a bit unfair, but after so many wars, we all have to be careful. You’re lucky they didn’t make it public to set an example. Ugh, they dragged Alder through the mud in that big scandal a few years ago.” Blue shivered at Skyla’s mom’s words. He’d felt so detached from home and the public opinion which always chased him there that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of his arrest making the front pages. Thank Arceus for Misaki. He couldn’t even imagine what’d happen if he had a scandal this young.

“Alder’s your Champion, right? What happened to him?”

Sir Heighton was the one to answer, his brows furrowed in distaste. “Tsk, just people being dramatic, if you ask me. Some crazy fan stole his training notebook and sold it to a newspaper. They did a long article about his weakness-counter methods, calling them borderline abuse and whatnot. It’s like those people have never met a Pokemon! Alder’s Vanilluxe is so obsessed with handling heat, it goes to saunas on its own and stays there until its last health point. Alder training it under the sun for a few hours is nothing in comparison!”

“Dad, calm down. It was years ago. And, Blue, scandal or not, you should’ve called your family. This is too much for a child to earn. You can still call them—do you want to use our phone?” Skyla’s dad was already getting up to retrieve the phone.

“Aeron, stop that. He’s made his decision.” The gym leader’s words echoed with finality and his son hesitantly sat back down. The grandpa continued, “How about I give you a shot at battling me? You earned the badge already, but that’s League money. My advanced team is linked to my personal account, so you can cash in a lot. That’s only if you manage to beat me of course, and I won’t go easy on you.”

“You don’t have to do that, sir.”

“Huh, aren’t you a cocky one,” he laughed. “You think you can beat me that easy? It’s settled, kid. We battle tomorrow.”

“And tonight you can stay here. Please, don’t refuse, Blue, I can’t let you sleep in a cave when we have a free guest room.” Skyla’s mom seemed like she wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Blue nodded and set out to help her with the dishes.

The whole family seemed to have a cleanup routine, like how he and Daisy split chores. It was kind of nice to be in an actual home again, even if it wasn’t his.

Skyla dragged him to her room, where they played some board game about capitalism. It felt nice to be rich again, even if it was fake money. They got bored of it by the third rematch when Skyla still couldn’t beat Blue’s cunning investing. He clearly should’ve become a Castelia broker instead of battling his soul out.

At some point they started talking about their Pokemon journeys. There were plenty of stories about epic battles and tough gym leaders. Skyla was really curious about what the Kanto Elite Four were like. She just scoffed when Blue told her how easy it was to beat them. Apparently, she’d given up on the Unova Championship after her third attempt.

“Well maybe if you stop using only Flying types, you’ll have a chance.”

He was legit trying to be helpful, but his benevolence only got him a painful flick on the forehead. After he gave up arguing that the coolest Pokemon aren’t always the most strategic choice, they fell into conversation again. They were born in the same year, but Skyla had started her journey earlier.

“You start in winter in Kanto?! But it’s so cold! Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Well, it’s not as cold as here. Summers are actually more dangerous. Most kids try to be done by then. And you can technically start anytime as long as you’re eleven. Most people just use the break from school to slack off for a while and start in early spring. I started as soon as I could, though. My birthday is at the end of November and, with the time it took for my license to come, I got my starter around mid-December.”

“Oh, it’s quite different then. Here, we usually start when we’re ten, either in spring or autumn, depending on your birthday. We get the semester off for our journey and some continue during the breaks.”

“I think they’re gonna change it to ten in Kanto as well. It’s so unfair that we gotta wait a whole year more.”

“Yeah, ten is old enough. It was so fun when I started! There was this really cool girl Elesa and we kinda went together. She’s super into electric Pokemon, so she always beat me,” Blue almost rolled his eyes at that, “but we became really good friends. You should meet her! She’s so stylish, maybe she can help you. You're obviously in need of some fashion advice.”

“Oh, piss off. I’m plenty stylish when I’m not broke.”

“Um, yeah, sure. I did see you fresh off the plane, remember? What was your excuse then?”

“Tsk. How did I ever think you’re nice?” Blue was beyond offended at her comment, but something else caught his attention. “Wait, you also have a rival?”

“Rival? Elesa? I guess, so. We like to compete, but we’re good friends. Why? Is that other boy, Red, your rival? Oh, yeah, I think I read about you two being friends. I kinda looked you up on the internet. Your grandpa’s really famous.”

Blue’s eyebrows kept going up with each statement.

“Are you stalking me?” he exclaimed in mock terror.

She stuck her tongue out and laughed.

“I’m not a stalker, dumbass. It’s on the internet—everyone can look it up! So, Red’s your rival? That’s kinda funny you’re both named after colours.”

“A lot of people in Nippon are named after stuff. We use characters, called kanji, and every symbol has a meaning. They usually sound cooler in Galarian, though. I know people whose names would translate to Ten Thousand Swords, Prosperous Hero, Universe, and so on.” He hoped the little cultural lesson would distract her enough to drop the Red thing.

“Whoa, you could’ve been called Ten Thousand Swords, but instead you’re Blue. I’m so sorry.”

His turn to flick her on the arm.

“It sounds a lot different in Nihongo. My mom’s favourite colours were Blue and Green, but in our language they’re both girl names, so I guess she used the Galarian word. It was in fashion back then. She couldn’t choose though, so she let my older sister pick.”

“Wait, wait. Were her favourite? I think I read you were raised by your grandpa. Do you mean that you mom is…?”

Oh no, not that conversation again.

“Uhm, yeah, my parents died in a car accident. I was really young, so I don’t remember anything…It’s fine, I’m fine, please don’t start crying or something.”

To her credit, Skyla quickly composed herself.

“I’m so sorry. That must’ve been hard.”

“I mean, I wasn’t really conscious for it. It happens, I guess. Nothing we can do about it now, so...”

And, there it was. The awkward silence that inevitably followed any mention of his dead parents. At least Skyla didn’t seem to pity him—she just looked at a loss.

“Look, it’s alright. Let’s just go to bed. I still have to battle your grandpa tomorrow.”

It didn’t feel right to leave things on that note, but he was getting tired and there was almost never a recovery from such a mood killer.

“Yeah, true.” He was already at the door when she suddenly added, “You’re a really strong person, Blue.”

“I…don’t know about that…but I’m sure as hell a strong trainer!”

She snorted, rolling her eyes.

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

He grinned widely and they both said their goodnights.

***

Sir Heighton’s advanced team was way more powerful than Blue expected. Even his Kanto team fell a bit underlevelled. He’d left Exeggutor in favour of Umbreon, anticipating mostly Flying types, but that wasn’t the case. The opposing team was varied, with good type coverage and flexible strategies. The battle went on for more than an hour, but Blue emerged victorious with about 15HP left on Blastoise.

The match was definitely worth it for the experience, but even more so for the fat sum he got for winning. He almost felt uncomfortable accepting it.

“You earned it, kid. You know how hard it is to find high level teams? All of us old-timers only have each other to battle and it gets real boring after the first few dozen matches. And you’re pretty tough, kid. I haven’t had a battle like this in years.”

They healed up their Pokemon in the Centre and went out for lunch with Skyla. After a lot of whining on her part, Skyla also coaxed a battle out of Blue. She was pretty sulky after losing again but quickly perked up when he offered to explore Mistralton Cave together.

On Skyla’s mom’s insistence, Blue stayed at their place for another night. And then another, after Mr. Aeron took them for a few plane rides, and then one more after they took him to the amusement park in Nimbasa, where Skyla moped around for the whole day as her friend happened to be out of town.

Spending time with the Heightons was awesome. Their family dynamics were downright hilarious and they were all smart, down-to-earth people. By the end of their stay, Umbreon was probably never gonna accept eating at a PokeCentre again. All his Pokemon were spoiled by Sir Heighton’s homemade snacks and there was also the slight possibility that Pidgeot might leave him for Skyla’s dad.

As fun as it was, though, their little break had to end and soon enough Blue left for Twist Mountain with promises to visit again before returning to Kanto.

The mountain, or more so the giant mine, was enormous, but the dry food Lauren prepared lasted them almost five days before they had to go to Icirrus City’s Centre. He found some pretty expensive items, TMs, fossils, and a lot of gems peeking from the hardened soil. The trainers and workers inside were all eager to battle. Thankfully, there was also a doctor, who, after being defeated, healed up all his Pokemon whenever needed, saving him the constant PokeCentre trips.

In a few more days, he was finally done exploring the mountain and its caves and headed to Icirrus for his badge. The town was stunningly beautiful in winter and its people were as warm as the weather was freezing, but Blue only had a few days to spare for sightseeing. With a little more than two months until the payment deadline, he quickly made his way to Opelucid for the final badge.

Everyone there seemed obsessed with dragons. Lance would probably love this place. It turned out the local gym leader was an old friend of Skyla’s grandpa, so he was already expecting Blue. The battle was pretty awesome, but he found it a bit unnecessary when the staff there insisted on televising it. Oh well, he’d already convinced Daisy he was taking the Unova challenge for the fun of it, so no harm was really done, except for making him even more recognizable to the Unovan public, especially so, since Fraxure ended up evolving into Haxorus on live TV.

A few interviews later, the Gym Leader pulled him aside to tell him about a dangerous cave near the city, which had good items stashed and attracted strong trainers. Blue headed there immediately, but was stopped at the entrance by a brash Black Belt. The guy insisted he wouldn’t let any trainers who hadn’t taken on the Elite Four pass. The look on the dude’s face at the giant Champion star on his license was simply priceless.

There weren’t many people inside, but they were all strong, which usually meant fat battling accounts. The place was big, so it took a while before he’d gotten everything there was to collect. On the night he finished, he did some calculations before bed. On its own, his account had a little short of a third of the sum. The items he’d gathered amounted to a small fortune, but after numerous calculations, he still ended up somewhere between definitely under, or cutting it extremely close to the needed number.

He’d have to take on the Elite Four.

***

The next morning, they set out on the days-long climb of Victory Road. It was even longer than the Indigo League’s, full of caves, rivers, and trainers. At least the weather had started to warm up again, so he finally retired Volcarona from being his personal heater.

When they reached the top, Blue almost cried with joy. He’d had to use up a lot of items to get there, so the prize had better be worth it. At least the Pokemon League Centre offered free accommodation to challengers, so he gladly took the offer and rested a few days.

The thought of sweeping the Elite Four with his Kanto team passed through his mind. It’d certainly be more efficient. He wouldn’t have to use that many items to heal them up and the whole thing would go smoother. But his Unova team had worked so hard to get him there—he didn’t have the heart to deprive them of the ultimate opportunity to show their skills.

Thus, exactly five months after he’d set out on his second journey, Blue crossed the gates of the League with Serperior, Ampharos, Haxorus, Volcarona, and Umbreon. TV crews were stationed at the entrance and in each of the four chambers.

“Are you ready for the challenge?”

“Of course!”

“Do you plan to use your Kanto team?”

“No, I met some great Pokemon here. Wait till you see how strong they’ve become.”

“Did you come to challenge the Unova League because you lost in Nippon?”

Ouch.

“Not really, I just wanted a vacation, but I guess I couldn’t resist battling.” That sounded plausible enough, right?

1 win

“Amazing battle! And none of your Pokemon fainted!”

“Yeah, I’ve trained them well.”

2 wins

“Wow you swept through the Fighting chamber! Do you have a favourite type?”

“Nah, there are amazing Pokemon in each type. You just gotta know how to use their strengths.”

3 wins

“You haven’t used Umbreon yet. Are you saving her for the Champion?”

“Not really. She’s a bit overlevelled, so it’ll be unfair to use her. She’s just here for moral support.”

4 wins

“What a match! Is your family watching in Kanto?”

“Well, it’s around 3a.m. there, but my sister probably stayed up. Hey Daisy, hope you’re not too jacked up on caffeine.”

“Are you going to switch any of your items for Alder?”

“Nope, I keep it simple.”

“You haven’t used any healing items in battle! Are you giving up your only advantage over the League?”

“Yeah, I like it fair and square. It’s kinda meaningless if I revive my Pokemon or heal them up all the time, right?”

The battle with Alder was amazing. Blue finally pulled out his trump card and turned Volcarona into a fearsome sweeper with two Quiver Dances. She took out Accelgor and Bouffalant of Alder’s team before he finally fainted her with a clever priority move from Druddigon. But Blue wasn’t finished. He called out Serperior and used the fact that Druddigon was mainly a physical Attacker to Coil up his snake until the opposing Pokemon’s rough skin was doing more damage than its attacks. Druddigon was gone, barely leaving a scratch on the grassy snake.

It was Alder’s turn to surprise him, calling out a Volcarona of his own. Blue cursed under his breath as the higher-level bug turned out faster than Serperior and fainted him with one Flamethrower. Haxarous was next, easily exploiting Volcarona’s bad physical defence and taking her out in an incredible display of raw power after a single Dragon Dance.

Alder’s Vanilluxe somehow survived Haxarous’ powered up Dragon Claw and fainted him in a swift ice move. It was down to Ampharos now. She looked a little nervous, but took the opposing Ice Beam well, her Leftovers healing up a chunk of the damage. Blue thanked his genius type coverage strategies when his girl’s Power Gem easily dealt with the ice cream cone. The last opponent was Escavalier. It was even slower than Ampharos, so Blue prepared for its powerful physical Attack stat by buffing up with two Cotton Guards. The moves quadrupled Ampharos’s already decent defence and, despite the opponent’s Swords Dance, the match was over in three Discharges.

The next few seconds were quiet until a burst of screaming, applause, and confetti filled up the room. With laboured breaths, Blue ran into the stadium to tackle his stunned Ampharos into a hug. Umbreon quickly joined them, placing dry licks all over their faces and Blue just laughed to his heart’s content, uncaring of how undignified their little pile of joy probably looked.

Alder came up to them and helped him up with a smile. Blue bowed in respect and, without needless words, they went to the Hall of Fame. After healing up their Pokemon, Blue’s team was placed into the recording machine, their victory commemorated for eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whadup, void. At least you're the internet void and you're kinda the opposite of quarantined rn. We humans are struggling tho.
> 
> This chapter was originally giant but i decided to cut it down cuz I don't wanna be writing 10k+ chapters. For now. I probably will be later, knowing how much I ramble. Which I'm doing again.
> 
> But yeah, can't wait to finally have Red in the next chapter. It's about time already.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- In my head Pokedollars work kinda like yen, so 100PD is around 1$.  
> 4 champions in 1 chapter, if this isn't a good deal idk what is

The Unovan Hall of Fame had a similar layout to its Kanto counterpart. The decorations were slightly different, but it carried the same luxurious atmosphere. As Blue’s reflection gazed back at him from the polished gold of the PokeBall recorder, he desperately tried to summon back the initial elation of victory. Maybe it was the detachment of being in a different country or the absence of a rival to chase ahead of that made the whole thing seem so mundane. Well, no, that wasn’t the word. He was so proud of his Pokemon and partially of himself for pulling this off in one go. But the expected high, that sense of almost manic euphoria, like he’d finally done something right, had seeped away way too quickly.

He scowled at his own puzzled image. He’d just won his second title of Champion, and yet here he was, whining how NotHiNg CaN fIlL tHe VoId iN mY hEaAaRt, like he was in one of those emo boybands Daisy still kept posters of. Thankfully, Blue’s spiralling thoughts were interrupted before he’d pulled out the eyeliner and dyed his hair purple.

“Congratulations! You’re the first in half a decade to beat me. You were probably a foetus when I first became Champion…” Alder said with slight awe.

“You didn’t go down easy! I had no idea you also had a Volcarona. I almost lost it when you called out that thing—she was so overlevelled!”

“You didn’t look my team up before you came?” He lifted an eyebrow in surprise. “I haven’t made that many changes in the last few years…”

“Oh yeah, that would’ve been smart, huh?” Blue mumbled quietly.

The Champion was suddenly looking way more baffled by who, of all people, had managed to beat him.

“Okay, in my defence, I didn’t even think I’d need to battle you guys. I thought I’d be done after the eight badges, but was still around 50k short, so it was kind of an impulsive decision,” Blue couldn’t help rambling away, but even he realized how dumb it’d been to waltz in without at least watching a few past battles.

Oh well, he still won and besides, it was kinda more fun this way. He’d pretty much already been Champion the moment he’d stepped into the Kanto League. It hadn’t been hard to prepare strategies against all members, but it’d turned the whole thing into a dry, methodical procedure. At least this way, he actually had to think on his feet, and got to be surprised by his opponents.

“You were 50 thousand short?”

The question took him back to planet Earth and he grinned, scratching the back of his head. “Umm yeah, I’m kinda only in this for the money. Sorry I had to beat ya in front of your nation and all, but I really need some cash. So, where’s the reward check?”

Alder’s expression was a mixture of astonishment, curiosity, and alarm. “The prize money should already be in your account.”

“Cool. Welp, smell ya later then. Thanks for the good battle.”

He signed the Champion title release form, gathered his PokeBalls and left before Alder could try to chit chat more. It wasn’t his smoothest exit, but he was in a weird mood and wanted to get out of there already.

Reporters swarmed him outside and he had to spend a while explaining technical details of his strategy and assuring them he had no intention of staying in Unova as Champion. By the time he managed to get away, it was already dark, so he retreated to the Centre and opened his PokeGear to answer all the congratulatory messages. He ended up chatting with Skyla’s grandpa for a while, asking him about any collectors he knew in the region.

After that was all done, he booted the PC and answered Daisy’s excited email and his grandpa’s short one. Apparently, his victory was already heading Nippon’s news websites. He clicked on the link his sister had sent and there he was, right above

“Johto Man Dances On Top Of Police Cruiser To Ward Off Gengars [video]”

Lance had apparently also watched the battle and used the opportunity to offer him the Elite Four and Gym Leader positions again. Real classy move, but Blue still declined.

He went to the yard to have dinner together with his team and congratulate them individually. They’d had a pretty good time, but soon enough the adrenaline of the day’s battles wore off and they all headed inside for some well-deserved rest.

***

Some of those collectors lurked in really weird places. He got pretty good prices on a lot of his items though, so no complaining. After about a week, he’d sold all the rarer stuff. Whatever was left, with the exception of some TMs he really liked, went to PokeMarts and Blue finally had enough to repay his debt.

A giant burden fell off his shoulders when he handed in the notice at the Training Violations Bureau. It was sad to watch months’ work disappear from his account, but the relief was worth it. They had enough left over for a good dinner and a stay in the PokeCentre. The weird feeling of dissatisfaction that’d crept under his skin after the League was still present, though. So the debt wasn’t the problem either.

With almost five months left in the country, Blue resumed exploring the areas with no Gyms that he’d missed. It felt great to once again walk around leisurely, without having to worry about the cheapest possible way to exist.

Lacunosa and the Village Bridge were great ways to distract himself. They were lively enough without the chaotic energy of Castelia and Nimbasa and gave him a chance to soak in a bit of the Champion glory. He'd gathered quite the fanbase, judging by how often people came up to him. He battled a few for fun, but mostly stayed around the courts, playing a few tennis matches and getting the hang of basketball. He ended up liking volleyball the best and joined a training camp of kids his age that was stationed there. By the time the camp finished, Blue’s spike had become strong enough to actually hurt when he hit people in the face.

Next was Undella. The resort was definitely above Blue’s paygrade, but the beaches were beautiful and quite welcoming in early June. They’d go for swims during the day and sleep around a campfire at night. He even got a bit into fishing and played around with different recipes for grilling Basculin.

On one of his fishing trips, he found deep waters that led to some old ruins. It took him a few days to explore them fully, but he found a lot of relics and some weird elemental plates.

He also met a family that’d recently moved into one of the villas. The surname Riches was amazingly accurate—those people probably crapped gold. They insisted on battling him every day for the rest of his stay and didn’t seem to mind losing heaps of money when Blue shamelessly used his Amulet Coin. If only he’d met them earlier, this whole thing could’ve ended in a month.

***

As Blue was exiting the Riches’ beach villa for the eighth day in a row, he almost fainted when he saw Sinnoh Champion Cynthia leisurely surfing on a Milotic. The Cynthia, whose figurine he’d literally had to fight for in the store. Three years before, she’d become the youngest Champion in the history of the country at sixteen. Well, now Blue held that record, since he was technically younger than Red, if only by a few months.

He cautiously waved, hoping he wasn’t disturbing her. She surfed back to shore and greeted him in rapid Nihongo that he’d desperately missed.

“Hey, your name is Blue, right? The Kanto Champion. And now Unova, I guess. Oh, is that an Unovan Pokedex? Well, my name is Cynthia. I’m a trainer just like you. I’ve been studying the region lately, just out of curiosity. I came here to check out this Abundant Shrine. According to legends, a really strong Pokemon watches over it. Oh, do you need HMs? I have way too many of them.”

Cynthia was apparently a blabbermouth. Blue tried to answer all of the questions and, after he got an autograph for himself and Daisy, they ended up chatting. When he suggested a battle, she warned that she’d only brought her personal team. Blue quickly ran to the Centre to get his own advanced team and it was on.

Cynthia demolished him.

The loss didn’t sting as much as he expected, so he went for rematches every day until he finally started to sneak in a few wins here and there. The bohemian beach routine was getting a bit old, so he got into the habit of getting lunch with Cynthia after their battles. She was one of those people who needed to talk stuff out in order to organise their thought process, so he let her use him as a personal idea dumpster. In return, he kept observing her weirdness, sometimes narrating in his head like he was recording data on a wild Pokemon in its natural habitat.

The wild Cynthia appears noticeably nerdy outside of a TV screen. This rare Dork type exhibits a distinct interest in philosophy, physics, and mythology. Beware its ability Ramble, which has a 30% chance of trapping you into an endless discussion about existentialism and the space-time continuum, thus causing immediate confusion for at least 2 hours. Its Awkward nature hinders normal human communication but boosts relationships with Pokemon by two stages. Due to its scatter-brained personality, there’s a 20% chance it will forget the street its hotel is on, but fear not, as it will always be ready to attack with niche trivia.

Despite her oddities, Cynthia was brilliant and had a novel perspective on pretty much everything. Their conversations always ended up turning into fundamental philosophical debates that were kind of like volleyball training but for his brain. Sometimes, she’d abruptly get curious about the most random things and instantly bury her nose in an e-reader, looking for answers in one of her numerous encyclopaedias and quietly informing Blue about her findings. If the answer wasn’t in her books, she’d bolt out of there like a Zapdos on steroids, turning her day into an impromptu adventure.

He joined in for exploring the Abundant Shrine and its Hidden Grotto. Even though they didn’t find a legendary, the place’s gorgeous scenery made the trip worth it. While their Pokemon ditched them to play in the wide fields, Cynthia recorded everything in her notepad and Blue busied himself with thoroughly pocketing all the stray items. At this point, he wasn’t even ashamed to admit that he’d turned into a nutcase like in one of those documentaries about extreme hoarders. At least he wasn’t addicted to cheese or in love with a train station.

Yeah, it can always be worse , he thought, looking at Cynthia, who’d pulled out her audio recorder, counting the leaves of a Roselia out loud.

That night he got a call from Skyla. Her summer vacation had started and apparently, she was...

“So bored…Ooh I have so much free time. I wonder what I should do. Maybe, if I had great, incredibly kind friends, who are also strong trainers, I could go travel with them. Oh, but alas…”

“I’m not surprised. Who in their right mind would be friends with you?”

“You asshole, I have plenty of friends! Elesa and Clian, Cress, and Chili, and all the other pilots’ kids!”

“Why’re you bugging me then?”

“Ohmygod, you’re such a prick. I know you’re hanging out with Cynthia! You two are all over the newspapers. I wanna meet her! You’re in Undella, right? I’ll come tomorrow—introduce me!”

With that, she hung up, leaving Blue with no choice but to accept his impending doom.

***

The next morning, he was rudely awakened by the unnecessarily dramatic landing of a certain Skarmory dangerously close to his head. Great, now he’d have to spend half the day getting sand out of his hair. Skyla was as hyper as ever, giving him a tight, unwanted hug and running off to pet his Pokemon.

Lauren had sent some of her lasagne, the taste of which made all the questioning about the Elite Four and Championship battles a lot more bearable. He showed her around the Abysmal Ruins, after which they went for Blue’s daily battles with the Riches and Cynthia. Skyla had the audacity to cheer for the Sinnoh Champion, so Blue was even cockier than usual after he won.

Introducing those two spared him from having to engage in Cynthia’s depressing philosophical pondering. The emo semi-adult easily switched her ramblings to Galarian and Skyla kept her busy enough by nodding like a bobblehead and firing question after question. Just as he was about to mentally pat himself on the back, his lucky stars collapsed into blackholes when Skyla mentioned some mysterious forest she’d heard about from her grandpa. Blue would’ve been perfectly fine soaking up the July sun on the beach with a mocktail in his hand, but instead he was dragged on another journey, as if he hadn’t explored enough for two lifetimes.

White Forest couldn’t have been that much of a secret, since it was an actual town with residents, a mayor, and a PokeCentre. The place had some pretty trees and a lot of Pokemon from Nippon, which, according to Skyla, were rare in Unova. They stayed a little, Blue writing his regular email home, while Skyla caught what she wanted, and Cynthia studied the local moss.

Next, they visited the neighbouring Black City, which by contrast was a bustling metropolis with freakishly strong trainers. A few days of battling later, Cynthia decided to go back to Undella to check out the Abysmal Ruins for herself. She took Skyla’s email and Blue’s Nippon phone number, probably in case she couldn’t find anyone willing to debate 20th century philosophers with her back in the motherland.

***

On Skyla’s insistence, they set out on Marvelous Bridge to Nimbasa, where he was finally introduced to the Elesa he’d heard so much about. The blonde turned out to be an adrenaline junkie fond of terrible puns. Even Skyla’s iron stomach gave up when her lunatic friend dragged them around the giant amusement park like ragdolls and made them go through all the fastest rides at least five times.

“Roller coasters sure have their ups and downs, huh,” wasn’t the best consolation when one was puking their guts out in a public rubbish bin.

In the next few days, they attended several fashion shows and some sort of convention. Umbreon, Volcarona, Amphy, and Serperior were all dressed up and put into a musical. Blue drew the line when the two tried to put makeup and a wig on poor Haxorus, despite the literal axes on his head. The dragon had mellowed out a lot with evolution. He was too much of a softie to refuse them outright, but Blue knew how much he prized his sharp tusks and stepped in to the rescue, later giving him a loving but firm lecture about standing up for himself.

At least Elesa’s fancy penthouse was great. Her parents were at some sort of conference in Kalos, so, save for the maid, the three had the whole place to themselves. They spent the nights watching movies and playing on Elesa’s various consoles. Blue’d forgotten how much he enjoyed gaming, even if constantly losing to the girls was frustrating.

He introduced them to some shows from Nippon and Elesa was instantly hooked. This gave him a welcome break from her madness, which he used to look up Misaki’s firm online and find her contact. A few emails later, they’d scheduled a lunch—Blue’s treat, on his unyielding insistence. Her husband also joined them and it was fun to learn a bit about banking from him. Money sure was a nice thing to have in abundance. Although, the man’s longing gaze into the distance when Blue told them about his journey reminded him of that article about mid-life crises he’d read almost a year ago. Maybe finance jobs weren’t worth the big bucks after all.

The couple gave him a ride to the giant department store where he met up with Skyla to pick a cute Emolga plushie for Elesa’s thirteenth birthday. He knew she was planning a party but he didn’t expect the two dozen kids their age playing at least five different genres of music simultaneously in little cliques. The poor maid was running all over the place, trying to protect the family’s expensive collections, while screaming to stop battling inside.

Umbreon ran to her aid, scaring the weaker Pokemon enough to get them to retreat into their balls, until some semblance of order was finally established. Unfortunately for Blue, that meant he had to deal with the fanboys and girls all by himself, since Skyla and birthday girl had ditched him to check out the presents.

The mention of cake finally got the attention away from him, but not fully, since a few of those brats were either on some fad diets or thought they’re too cool for cake or something. Who refused cake? Blue sure didn’t, so he quickly sneaked out to the kitchen to finally have some peace, quiet, and dessert.

It was a small blessing when a chunk of the kids were picked up by their parents, but it also left Blue trapped at a sleepover with eight chicks who all looked at him like he might suddenly reveal his secret alien form. Umbreon distracted them for a while by letting them brush her fur, but soon enough Blue was dragged into some weird game that asked questions no one should care about and made people do stupid stuff.

He had to tell them way too many times that they were all hardly bearable, so logically he couldn’t choose who was the “cutest,” “prettiest,” or “had the best smile”. The highlight of weirdness came when Skyla deviously dared Elesa to kiss her crush and after a few minutes of arguments and a lot of blushing, Blue’s face was suddenly under full frontal attack from a pair of lips and teeth. It didn’t last more than three seconds, after which the blonde ran from the room like her life depended on it.

Blue was just confused at that point, but joined the girls in trying to get Elesa to open the door. It was her birthday, so, for once, he decided to be nice and told her it was fine and at least she had good taste. They spent the rest of the night watching dumb teen movies and Blue ungracefully fell asleep stretched out on the couch, uncaring that he was taking up all the space.

He woke up early enough to help the maid clean up the trashed place and set the table for breakfast. The girls had scattered around the bedrooms and he took a little too much pleasure in banging on the doors loud enough to wake up the whole neighbourhood.

Some leftover cake later, Skyla’s mom called to remind them that school was starting in two weeks and Blue’s visa had even less than that. They decided to go back to Mistralton the next day, after helping Elesa with her post-party blues and taking her on another run through the amusement park.

The next morning, the blond made him promise to write from time to time and gave him a long hug. Usually, Blue’d have no qualms about quickly wiggling away, but even he wasn’t that much of an asshole. Instead, he settled for giving her a few awkward pats on the back and vowed to play some online shooters with her once he reached her crazy high rank.

***

The weather was nice, so Blue suggested he and Skyla walk part of the way to Driftveil, but she completely ignored him, already straddling Skarmory.

The rest of the Heightons were as sweet as always and insisted he stay at their house again, even if he could afford the Centre. For the next few days, Blue was buried in hundreds of pages of bureaucratic bullshit required to bring his Unova team back to Nippon. Aeron guided him through it, but filling the numerous pages four times, in both Galarian and Nihongo, turned his brain into mush. All this work just to make him promise that he wasn’t going to release them into the wild (duh!) or breed them.

He’d been too busy to notice Skyla’s cold attitude before, but now that he actually had the free time and brain capacity for human interaction, it was glaringly obvious. He figured it was one of those girl things, so he let her be and spent some time helping her grandpa at the gym and Aeron at the cargo facility.

On the second to last night before his flight, Blue finally cracked and confronted the redhead when she ditched him with some dumb excuse about going to bed right after dinner. As if.

He didn’t want to disturb the rest of the family, so he got creative and quietly knocked the intro to Nova Unova, Skyla’s favourite show about a teen Pokemon contestant superstar, who led a double life as a normal girl.

Blue secretly kinda enjoyed the show, so he didn’t mind repeating the catchy song four times before she finally unlocked the door.

“Ohmygod, I’m going crazy—what is it!?”

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing’s happening, except you being a dick. Goodnight.”

Blue put his foot in the doorway just before she slammed it. It hurt quite a bit, but not as much as he pretended it did when he hopped into the room, exploiting her momentary guilt.

“Shit, are you okay? Did that hurt? Did you feel anything snap?”

“I’ll live…Probably.” He continued making a pained face, just for good measure, but the weird Unovan custom of wearing your shoes inside the house had actually saved him.

Skyla paced around, while Blue kept massaging his foot where he’d sat on the floor.

“So…are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?” She looked away from him and scoffed with a frown. Still not talking, huh? He continued, desperate to save whatever this situation was before screwing up yet another friendship, “Look…I don’t make friends that easily…”

“Oh, for real? Can’t imagine why?!” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm but there was no real bite to it. Still, it took a lot out of him to ignore the bait, but somehow he kept relatively calm.

“If I’m so insufferable, why did you spend a year checking up on me and the whole summer traveling with me?” Ugh, was he really about to sink that low? But he only had a day left and it was now or never. “Fine, I’ll say it. I’m well aware I can be an ass sometimes, okay? It doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you.”

She finally looked at him at that, seeming surprised. Did she really think he was too dumb to figure it out?

“Look, I thought bickering was fun for you, but if I’m being too insensitive or something, I’ll tone it down.”

Skyla let out a long sigh and murmured something that sounded like, “…Can’t even blame her, bastard can be wholesome…”

“What?”

“Look, I’m sorry I’ve been so bitchy lately. We’re still friends. And I like bickering. You can actually handle it.” She smirked at that, giving Blue some hope.

“Then what is it?”

He was now genuinely clueless. With another sigh, she sat in front of him, eyes cast downwards, and started playing with the carpet for a while before finally looking him in the eye.

“Do you actually like her?”

Oh…oh damn. So that was it.

“Is this about Elesa? I mean she’s cool, but I barely know her…” Skyla had started playing with her shoelaces now. “Um…do you also like me?”

She quickly lifted her head and just stared at him bewildered for a few seconds before letting out a snort, followed by giggles.

“Not you, you idiot.” She poked his forehead, still laughing silently. When she calmed down, Blue was just as confused.

“So...ummm…I’ve liked Elesa for like a year but you know we’re friends and all that and I didn’t wanna ruin it…And then here you come, a Champion with a strong Ampharos and messy hair and in less than a month she wouldn’t shut up about you…”

It all clicked so suddenly. How Skyla always talked about her cool friend and insisted on going to Nimbasa. Maybe he would’ve figured it out if he’d actually listened more.

“I kinda didn’t wanna know, but I also had some stupid hope left, so I finally asked her at the party and…well you were there for the rest.” Her eyes had turned downcast again and Blue had no idea what to do.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t notice…but why didn’t you tell me?”

“Yo, I barely admitted it to myself. We’re both girls, so I didn’t wanna weird you out…”

Skyla looking so dejected was beyond unsettling, but his emotional constipation was too immobilizing to let him come up with good ideas on how to comfort her. He settled for patting her shoulder, hoping it was at least somewhat of a reassuring gesture.

“It’s not weird—why would you even think that?” She smiled weakly at his words. “I’m already leaving anyway, but I can tell her it’s not gonna happen. Or just not talk to her. She’ll probably be offended and get over me real quick.”

“Ohmygod, don’t do that, that’s just rude…it’s not really your fault. And I can’t do much either. If she likes guys, that’s that.”

“Well, you can’t be sure, unless you tell her…” Skyla looked like she’d rather lick her birds’ cages clean. “No seriously, even if she doesn’t like you back, you guys are friends, that won’t just go away. And at least you’ll know.”

She did seem contemplative for a second, but then her shoulders dropped.

“I-I’ll…figure it out.” She waved nonchalantly at Blue’s unsure expression. “No, really, I’ll think about telling her…But, let’s just forget about that. I can’t believe I wasted so much time moping around—you only have a day left here!” Something didn’t feel right about leaving things like that, but Skyla was already dragging him to the living room and if she was giving him a free pass on a really awkward feelings convo, he’d gladly take it.

She was back to being herself in no time and the two of them stayed up late watching some new horror flick. They woke up on the couch with a blanket over them and breakfast left on the table. Everyone had gone to work and it was way too hot outside, so they spent a lazy day in the house, playing video games and watching funny videos on the internet while Umbreon and Swanna ran around in the yard.

When Aeron came back, they helped him make his special shepherd's pie just in time for Blue’s final dinner with the Heightons. Afterwards, they played that capitalist game again and Blue came second to Lauren when he went bankrupt, ironically stepping on the slot he’d sold her. As they chatted and joked away, he felt a bittersweet mixture of contentment and gratitude, veiled by the prospect of how much he’d miss feeling like a part of a whole family.

Right before he was about to get ready for bed, Skyla came into his room and convinced him to sneak out to Celestial Tower. They quickly climbed to the top, where the shining lights of Nimbasa and Castelia were mere blotches in the distance. As the two stargazed and enjoyed the cool breeze, they talked about their own theories of the universe and how life began and evolved. Cynthia would’ve been proud.

Before they entered the house, Blue reached out to tap Skyla’s shoulder.

“Thanks. For everything. And you know…if you’re ever sad about something and don’t know who to talk to, I’ll always listen. I’m all the way in Nippon, so you can tell me anything and I won’t judge. Just think of me as your garbage disposal, but for like feelings and stuff.”

Skyla snorted at that, grabbing his hand and pulling him into a tight hug.

“I’ll miss you! Who am I gonna roast now?” she pulled away with a grin that turned into a small smile before her next words. “It goes both ways, you know. I’m also here, if you ever need to talk. We’re both garbage, so we gotta stick together.”

He smiled back and lifted his pinky.

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

***

All the Heightons woke up early and joined Blue at the airport. After their goodbyes, Skyla’s grandpa patted him on the shoulder, saying something about pulling strings, and dashed towards the information bureau. The rest stayed behind to see Blue off as the escalator carried him to the check in.

He killed a bit of time with some extra souvenirs and clothes shopping at the duty free until his flight’s boarding was announced. As he handed his passport in, the stewardess checked something on her computer and smiled.

“Congratulations, Mr Oak! Our flight’s economy cabin was overbooked, so you’ve been chosen for a free seat upgrade to business class. Please enjoy your flight.”

Blue was slightly confused, but took the reissued ticket and headed inside the tunnel leading to the plane. There were fewer people, most of them important looking. His new seat was a lot bigger and comfier than the one he remembered arriving in. The TV had even more shows and the food was of much higher quality. He also got a lot of extra stuff, all of which he shamelessly tucked into his backpack before they landed. Passport control went faster and customs only checked his new team’s documentation before letting him through. Blue could definitely get used to the VIP treatment.

Or maybe not, he thought, as the screaming crowd around the arrivals gate welcomed him with enough noise to put any metal band to shame. Airport security kept them at a respectful distance while Daisy quickly swept him off to a taxi back to Pallet.

“You just had to go and win another one, didn’t you? We have even more fan mail around the house now.” Daisy said this teasingly, but the soft smile on her face and the tight hug she gave him betrayed how much she’d missed her little brother. He hugged back, secretly triumphant as he realized that he’d grown almost as tall as her.

When they got home, he gave her some cute PokeAccessories, Cynthia’s autograph, a luxury scarf, and all the snacks he’d bought for her. After a quick cup of tea and some updates they’d missed in emails, Blue retired to bed early, leaving Umbreon and Daisy to catch up.

***

The next week was spent mostly talking about Unova. Blue carefully avoided revealing too much about why he’d taken on the league and what accommodation he’d used for almost four months. Daisy didn’t probe, busy enough with school and pampering both his new and old teams.

He paid a few visits to Red’s mom, giving her the snow globe and relics, he’d saved for her, as well as some spices that were apparently really hard to find in Nippon. There was still no news of Red.

Gramps was, as always, busy at the lab, though he did ask to see Blue’s Unovan team and Pokedex. Soon enough, things settled back to how they’d been before he left for his original journey. Except that now Blue didn’t really have anyone to hang out with. He tried hanging out with his old classmates, but everyone got on his nerves with their endless questions about his battle style or pleas for help with homework. He knew Leaf was now living in Viridian, but she’d probably found new friends already, so he didn’t bother her. He also didn’t feel like exploring new areas, having spent close to two years on the road.

There were a number of invitations for interviews and variety shows, but he’d watched enough of those to know he wanted no part of them. Contrary to popular opinion, he wasn’t desperate enough for attention to tolerate the fake laughter, cringe jokes, and way-too-personal questions.

He tried hanging around the lab, where gramps and co were currently comparing interactions of common low-leveled Pokemon with children vs adult trainers. Gramps’ new batch of exhausted grad students didn’t look particularly eager to answer Blue’s numerous questions and the experiments themselves were mostly random people talking to Pidgeys for 1000PKD/hour. He lost interest after the third hour of failing to see what could be so fascinating about a bunch of inept trainers showcasing their mediocrity.

He ended up buying a PC for his room and playing online shooting games with Skyla and Elesa. With the lingering jetlag, combined with the thirteen-hour time difference, Blue’s sleeping schedule got completely whacked. He’d wake up in the afternoon and go to sleep way after the sun had risen. After about a month of this, Daisy started putting guidebooks for high school applications under his door. He finally stopped ignoring the piled-up papers after slipping on them and crashing face-first into the door.

As much as he read about the different special courses and possible future paths, he still had no idea whether he wanted to focus on humanities, sciences and medicine, IT, or combat and physical education. Besides, he didn’t want to be the weirdo foetus among a bunch of highschoolers. Thus, he continued his current routine, feeling perfectly content with uselessly existing for a while.

***

Daisy’s gentle suggestions to start thinking about his future turned into annoyed nagging during a particularly disastrous dinner for his thirteenth birthday. Gramps had, of course, completely forgotten and gone to some conference in Johto, so it was only Blue and his sister’s prodding.

“Look, this isn’t healthy. You can’t just sit around in your room all day.”

His casual shrug seemed as good of a response as any, but she kept staring at him expectantly.

“Okay, fine. I’m tired. Happy now? I just wanna lay low for a little. There’s nothing much for me to do here anyway.”

“What do you mean? There’s plenty of kids your age in Pallet. Go hang out with them. And Leaf’s just a short flight away.”

“You know Leaf, she’s probably obsessing over school or doing some crazy youth program. Too high energy for me.”

“Fine, then meet with the others. Go train, maybe. Just get out of the house once in a while. Get some sunshine.”

“It’s November, it’s cold, and there’s literally no reason for my teams to get any stronger. We’ve already won two titles. And have you met any of the kids my age? The only thing they do is whine about homework and scheme how to buy porn. You go hang out with them, if you like them so much.”

She stared at him some more then took her time with an alarmingly deep breath.

“Okay, fine. Sign up for some sports. You liked volleyball, right? At least go for walks once in a while.”

“Go for walks? I’ve backpacked through the entirety of two regions. I’m tired of walking. Is it impossible for you to just get off my back and let me be?!”

“Let you be?” She snapped stabbing a piece of meat with her chopsticks. “You’ve barely left the house in three months! You sleep all day, make weird noises in your room all night, and hiss when I try to open the curtains. It’s like I’m living with a Zubat!”

“Do you have to be so dramatic? I’ve done more in the past two years than most people do in a lifetime. Can’t I get a break?”

“A break from what? Life?!” Daisy took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. “Blue, I’m sorry, but you’ve got to stop looking down on everyone and everything. The fact that you have a lot of potential doesn’t mean everyone else won’t catch up soon enough.”

“And what do you want me to do? Go to high school two years early? Go explore another continent? Stop pretending to care so much if you want me gone that badly.” His tone was even, but the words were dripping with venom.

Daisy looked like she’d been slapped. She opened her mouth several times but nothing came out. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she stiffly got up and left to her room, leaving all the dishes out for Blue to take care of. As if.

He had no idea what that’d been about, but he was honestly beyond caring. Such a fuss over keeping in touch and staying safe. So much guilt tripping. And for what? Even his own sister couldn’t tolerate him for more than a few months without bitching about his existence.

Fine. If she wanted him out of her way, he could do that. His Unova team had been getting too sluggish, they needed some training anyway. He hadn’t felt like going out recently but now he felt even less like staying home. Grabbing his good old backpack, Blue headed out with a dramatic slam of the door.

***

The crisp air of the night cooled his head considerably. After a bit of contemplation, he shot a quick text to Daisy

 **You** : I’m fine, just need some time. Sry for tonight. Turning off my phone don’t call.

There weren’t many places where one could properly train a post-Elite Four team. Blue headed towards Victory Road but just as he was passing through the checkpoint, changed his mind and turned left. He’d heard about how strong the Pokemon on Mt. Silver were and it probably had some sweet items stashed. A quick stop at the PokeCentre later, and he stood at the first cave’s entrance with his Unova team, Umbreon, and Golduck.

Light snow was covering the bottom of the daunting mass. Late November wasn’t exactly warm, but the freezing winds here seemed bigger than a seasonal phenomenon. He took out Volcarona, asking her to hover nearby and warm up the air.

Golduck had to use all of his registered HMs to even get them through the first cave. The place was giant and devoid of any trainers. The Pokemon were indeed strong but most of them he’d already encountered, so he left them alone, battling only the especially strong ones who attacked his team. He was gonna battle more when he’d explored, but for now he wanted to conserve his team’s strength and get a sense of the scale they were working with.

At some point, probably early morning knowing his sleep patterns, Blue grew tired and curled up into Serperior’s soft body for a bit of sleep. Just like back in Unova, Umbreon snuggled close to his chest, with Volcarona warming up the air from her spot on the ceiling.

When he woke up, his whole body was aching and he felt about gramps’ age trying to get up. Only three months at home and he was already that out of shape. He didn’t let his stupid body acting up stop him though and continued exploring despite the burn in his muscles.

There were a few large caves, as well as numerous smaller chambers. Many of them could only be accessed from the outside, so he had to scale the slope as well if he wanted to fully explore the place. They got decently high through the inside caves, but soon enough he had to step outside again.

A hailstorm greeted them as soon as he stuck his nose out, nearly freezing it off before he had the sense to wrap his head in a scarf. He quickly withdrew Volcarona, despite her protests. No way he’d risk a flying icicle hurting her wings. But his clothes were completely useless in that weather, so he couldn’t exactly stay without some external heat. After a bit of thinking, he took out Haxorus. The dragon’s body was pulsing with controlled heat and his armour was hard enough to sustain pretty much anything. With an assuring nod from his Pokemon, Blue climbed on his back, Umbreon settling in between their bodies.

Haxorus’ muscly legs swiftly carried them through the mountain’s side, easily scaling its slopes. It wasn’t technically a legal HM, but if there was a ranger who climbed a goddamn killer mountain just to arrest people, Blue was honestly gonna shake their hand—even he wasn’t on that level of pettiness.

Despite his completionist nature, they didn’t go into every single cave; there were way too many of them. Constantly going up and down to the PokeCentre was certainly gonna be annoying, so for now he aimed to reach the top and decide on a plan later.

After a day of steady climbing, they reached yet another cave, conveniently devoid of Pokemon. There was a weird dent, the bottom of which was unexpectedly warm. He made camp there and, after healing up the team, took out some Protein and Carbos for Haxorus. He’d saved them for EV training new Pokemon, but there was nothing more nutritious for the dragon’s tusks in his backpack and his boy deserved a premium dinner.

In the morning they were ready to set out again. Blue felt like a fearsome conqueror on Haxorus’ back. It took them under an hour to reach a small but steep cave that had only one other exit. Blue sensed they were high enough to have reached the summit and excitedly went out into the storm.

***

The top of Mt. Silver was pure white, dusked by thick clouds that had somehow persisted through the thinning atmosphere. It was calm compared to the slopes. The fierce blizzard had mellowed into heavy snow and the occasional bone-chilling wind. Blue couldn’t see much in the distance but maybe Haxorus did, since he started making his way through the deep piles of snow. Umbreon also perked up at some point, confusing her trainer even more.

Finally, something flickering in the distance caught his eye. As they got closer, he started seeing flashes of yellow and red, bright enough that even the dense snowfall couldn’t obscure them. Squinting, he managed to make out two figures, one of which was surrounded by that same red light. Were those flames? The yellow light was back again, jumping all over the place with amazing speed.

Umbreon suddenly leaped into the snow and ran ahead. Haxorus and Blue shared a worried look and quickly followed after. The figures were becoming clearer and he concluded that one of them was a Charizard surrounded by its flames and with some sort of electrical charge going around it. Was it practicing Thunder Punch?

The movement and lights suddenly halted, but Blue was already close enough to see the second figure, which was distinctly human, bend down. Umbreon had probably reached them. The Charizard seemed to be looking in their direction, but stayed frozen on its spot.

As they got closer, Blue saw more and more of the fellow nutjob who’d decided to climb Mt. Scrotumfreezer. It looked like a guy from the back, wearing ripped jeans that were waaay too tight, a blotchy t-shirt (in this weather!?), and a red hat that barely contained a mop of messy black hair. Probably one of those extreme sports lovers. He had to be strong if he’d reached all the way up here, so Blue prepared for a decent battle.

“Oi,” he screamed loud enough to pierce through the howling wind. The figure slowly turned around and stilled, probably dumbstruck at how cool Blue and Haxorus looked. He couldn’t make out the face below the dirty cap, but he did see Umbreon playing in the snow with something yellow. That moved. And made annoying squeals that still haunted Blue’s nightmares.

No.

It couldn’t be.

But the Charizard. The clothes. The hat. The stupid rodent.

Of all possible places.

“Red!?”

The boy lifted his face and stared with those bottomless pools of black that Blue would recognize anywhere.

Red Pallet, the one and only Champion of Kanto, lost and found in the last place anyone would ever look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Red's finally here. And he's definitely here to stay. I hate the pacing up until now, but I also wanted for my prescious baby Blue to have an adventure where he's not an NPC bound to lose. 
> 
> Also, Daisy has very good reasons to be acting the way she is, we've barely scratched the surface of the Oak family drama.  
> Also also, I love Cynthia to death, but she does talk a lot.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: minor wound description. nothing violent, more on the medical side, but if blood and needles make you queasy, skip the part enclosed in a dashed line (-----)  
> Some context notes:  
> \- R/B/Y and R/S, as well as G/S and D/P/P events are supposed to be happening simultaneously, but I'll leave a bit of time between the events of the earlier gen and the later one. I'll keep the canon gaps: R/B/Y+3yrs=G/S+3yrs=B/W+2yrs=B2/W2 and put R/S and D/P/P somewhere within the gaps.  
> \- In my head, Pokemon can understand both each other and humans (on a wide spectrum), but humans (except N) can't understand Pokemon  
> \- When writing about game mechanics (EVs, IVs, type advantages, pkm's movesets etc.), I'm using the gen 5 ones and everything that follows, I'll be introducing as newly discovered stuff (except the regions obv)

No response. No words. Not even the twitch of a muscle.

Blue closed his eyes, counted to three and opened them again. Red was still there.

Mind completely blank, he got off Haxorus and walked forward. Yes, even from up close it was still most definitely Red.

He touched its forehead. Solid. He flicked the forehead. It blinked! Alive. He squished the cheeks. It blinked again. He squished them rapidly. It lifted its eyebrows.

He stared at solid, alive, and probably real Red. Yeah, even his imagination wasn’t wild enough for a hallucination like that. Just for good measure, he pinched the skin of his own palm. Pain, as expected. So this was reality.

First came the relief. It was almost nauseating, like for the past two years something had gradually twisted his guts into a sailor’s knot and now suddenly decided to hack them free.

Then came the anger. All this time. What did he do? Where had he been? Why was he here? A thousand questions and a million emotions that he’d fought so hard to bury all surged through him simultaneously, jumbling into one big fat pile of confusion.

What do you say to your ex-best friend, now arch rival, who stole your dreams away then went missing, widely presumed assassinated or kidnapped by a mafia he had no business messing with?

“Nice weather, huh?”

Blue’s mouth was as always faster than his brain. Snow was still falling around them in heaps, piling up on top of their heads. Umbreon and Pikabrat kept playing, while Charizard and Haxorus quietly observed their trainers. Red continued staring, now with a faint smirk plastered on his face.

“A lot of people think you’re dead.” The smirk was gone, replaced by the tiniest hint of shock.

Blue waited for a response but nothing came. They kept looking at each other, as if playing that stupid game of who’s gonna blink first like they did years ago.

As always, Blue lost.

“So you have nothing to say. Two years and you haven’t thought of a single explanation for why the hell you vanished,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Nicely done, Red. Winging it as per usual. Wonder what your mom’s gonna say to all the internet bastards telling her to have a funeral already.”

Bullseye. Red had the decency to look down in shame and Blue felt a sick satisfaction at the other’s gutted expression…Until his own guilt quickly put him back in check. He had no idea what’d actually happened. Maybe Red had a good reason to go into hiding. And maybe he didn’t feel like sharing. They could hardly be called friends anymore (not only Blue’s fault!) He took a deep breath and tried again.

“Look…maybe it’s not my business. I get it.” Red’s eyes shot back to Blue’s face, full of confusion and something akin of hope. “Just…Just come back home, okay?”

Vehement head shaking. Seriously?

“Why the hell not?! What is so damn important that you’d rather fucking die of hypothermia out here than come home?” Blue finally cracked, shouting against the snow fighting to get on his face.

Red opened his mouth, about to say something, but no words came out. His hands had lifted up on instinct, but he forced them back down, clutching them into fists. He looked frustrated and Blue had no idea what was going through his head, but he did remember exactly when Red had stopped talking to him.

“For Arceus’ sake, Red, enough with the silent treatment already! Okay fine, I’m sorry. It was cruel to battle you on that ship when you hadn’t healed your Pokemon. I apologize to you and to them. I wouldn’t have let it go on if I’d known you didn’t have items, I swear.”

Red’s face had gone back to confusion, as he tilted his head and quietly blinked.

“What else do you want?! Yeah, I was an ass, but we’ve always bickered! I’m mature now, so I’ll admit I took it too far sometimes. I’m sorry for that too, okay?” His pride was already in the gutter so might as well get that one out of the way. But as Red kept up his stupid stoic silence, Blue’s anger reached its boiling point. “Oh, don’t fucking act like you’re so innocent. You know how worried I was when you kept battling those mafia guys all on your own? Why didn’t you call me? Did you think I was too weak to help? Oh yeah, why would the mighty Red ever ask little old me for help? Why do you think I battled you so many times, you dumbass?! If you weren’t gonna let me help, I had to make sure you were strong enough to not get yourself killed!”

All he got for his dramatic monologue was widened eyes, garnished with some more silence. A few seconds passed and Red’s expression morphed into something softer. He brushed the snow off of Blue’s shoulder with a small apologetic smile and squeezed lightly.

Despite his anger, Blue felt the corners of his own mouth hesitantly lift in return. Two years of trying to stay furious, and the bastard still immobilized him with a single look.

“We’ll figure out our shit later. Let’s just go home now,” he said with a weak voice, already feeling emotionally drained.

Smile turning bittersweet, Red shook his head once again. Before Blue could even blink in exasperation, his rival was withdrawing Charizard and signalling something to the yellow rat. With a serious expression, he lifted one finger and nodded determinately, as if Blue had the faintest idea of what the hell his stupid nemesis was thinking. Next thing he knew, Red was running past Haxorus with Pikachu on his shoulder, the two quickly disappearing into the snowstorm.

***

To say that Blue was angry would be the understatement of the eon. He’d chewed, swallowed, and thrown up his pride in that bastard’s feet and for what?!

He was half-tempted to go chase after Red on Haxorus, but who knew how long Monsignor Fleeting Caveman had been on that mountain. He might be able to hide in there for months.

No, Blue wasn’t gonna waste his time searching the wank load of caves, when he could let the police be useful for once. While Blue was in Unova, Red’s mom had finally reported her son missing and, although Champion, the crafty twat was still underage. The police had every right to drag his ass back to Pallet.

They were about halfway down the slope when a single bar on Blue’s Pokegear finally appeared. He’d gotten numerous texts from Daisy, but they could wait. Just as he was about to call the Kanto emergency number, another text appeared from a contact he hadn’t seen in ages. Against his better judgement, he opened the message, cringing at the stupid nickname.

 **Tweedledumb** : Give me a week. Don’t tell anyone you saw me.

Oh, would you look at that, someone was suddenly talking.

For a brief second, Blue wondered if he was still Tweedledick in Red’s Pokegear. Not that it mattered.

 **You** : eat shit cunt

The next text appeared mere seconds later, giving him no time to exit the messages tab.

 **Tweedledumb** : I’m sorry.

The audacity!

 **Tweedledumb** : Promise I’ll explain everything later.

 **You** : choke on a bag of sweaty dicks

 **Tweedledumb** : I missed you too.

 **Tweedledumb** : Please.

 **Tweedledumb** : Just a week. All I’m asking.

Fuck. A week more after a two-year absence wasn’t technically that much to ask. But what if he tried to go hide in another region? Or country? But he must realise what he’s doing to his mom, right? He couldn’t be that dense. Red was a brainless lump but he’d never been intentionally cruel.

He tried to calm down and consider the options. Informing the authorities would increase the chances of actually getting Red back, but he could also easily dodge them and flee. And if the media got a whiff of any of this, the whole thing would be making international headlines and things could easily spiral out of control…

 **You** : if ur not back in pallet by next wdnsday im calling the police

 **You** : and if u try to pull something stupid i swear to every deity out there ill find you and bring u back in a cremation urn

 **Tweedledumb** : Thanks! I’ll see you soon. Promise.

***

Blue didn’t explore Mt. Silver. The heavy snowfall had turned into heavy rain by the time he reached the bottom, so after healing up his Pokemon, he went directly home. It was still afternoon, making the house blissfully empty. He took a much-needed shower and collapsed in bed.

The howling wind outside woke him up a little past 3am, so when going down for a glass of water, Blue definitely didn’t expect to see his sister in the living room.

“I saw your Pokemon in the yard.” Daisy sounded carefully neutral.

“Yeah, I came back a few hours ago.” He tried to be casual as well, hoping to avoid another scene. He’d had more than enough melodrama for one day.

“I’m glad. Thank you for that message. Next time, please let me know where you are and don’t turn off your phone.”

Next time? It seemed Daisy was expecting him to keep fleeing at any minor inconvenience.

He nodded and went to the sink. The expectant silence was still there after he gulped down his glass.

“Um…why don’t you go to bed now? We can talk tomorrow if you want to.” It was a perfectly adequate truce offer, but she firmly shook her head.

“No, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry.”

Okay, not what Blue expected. But she didn’t seem sarcastic either.

“…For what, though?”

She let out a deep breath and sat on the couch, patting the spot next to her.

Great, another emotionally intense talk not even 12 hours after the last one. At least this time it wouldn’t be just him monologuing and getting nods, headshakes, and a stray facial expression here and there.

Blue went over, trying not to show how much he wanted to pass on this right now. Maybe she was, in fact, expecting him to apologise and this was some sort of cleverly designed ploy to teach him with kindness. He had virtually no pride left anymore, so he bit the bullet and spilled out what he thought Daisy wanted to hear.

“Look, I know I’ve been pretty useless the past few months. I just needed to recharge a bit, but I’ll find something to do just give—”

“Blue, no.” She shook her head again, genuinely remorseful. “It was wrong of me to try to force you. You’ve been through a lot since you started your journey and I can’t even imagine what it must be like to have so many eyes on you at such a fragile age.” At his confused silence, she continued. “Since grandpa has always been a bit…under-appreciative of your capabilities…”

Blue snorted.

“Yeah, right, nice way to say he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me or what I do.”

“Don’t say that,” was Daisy’s automatic response anytime Blue’d voice the truth of what gramps thought of him. “He’s just trying not to put too much pressure on you.” He suppressed the humourless laughter this time, not looking for a lecture on familial trust and all that jazz. “Look, he has his reasons, but that doesn’t mean I think his approach is correct. That’s why I’m always trying to push you. I went too far this time. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, would you stop apologizing for caring.” He still couldn’t find anything to forgive. “You were pushy, I was a prick, we argued. It happens. Besides, you had a point. Having too many good options to choose from isn’t an excuse to do nothing.”

Daisy stared at him for a few long seconds. He almost thought he’d fucked up somewhere before she swept him into a tight hug.

“When did you grow up so much?”

“When did you get so mushy? You’re getting old, sis. My birthday was literally three days ago—did you forget already?” Blue said teasingly, patting her back. She snorted a bit at his dumb jokes and pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“Blue, I’m so proud of you. I know you can do whatever you set your mind to.” She paused. “Well, I’d be grateful if you didn’t go explore any more continents for now. But it doesn’t have to be high school and you don’t have to decide immediately. I just want you to be happy.” The affection in her eyes was almost too much to bear. He definitely didn’t deserve his sister.

“Actually, I’ve been considering high school. I have to be done with it at some point, so might as well get a head start. I don’t wanna give up battling completely, but I also don’t wanna be a roaming trainer forever.”

Daisy seemed deep in contemplation for a while before a long yawn betrayed how exhausted she really was.

“Alright, time for bed, young lady. This is a school night!”

She giggled and poked his forehead.

“Yeah, someone in this family has to keep a normal sleep schedule. No pressure, but we can continue this conversation whenever you’re ready.”

“I know. We will. I’ll look through the brochures again and we’ll choose something. Now go sleep or you’ll look even more like a zombie tomorrow.”

She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance and retreated to her room.

At least that didn’t go as badly as he expected. He wasn’t completely honest about having thought about high school, but it did seem like the best course of action. If he graduated early, he’d have more time to decide what he actually wanted to do with his life.

For now though, all Blue was absolutely sure he wanted was a bag of crisps and a can of Soda Pop for some very unhealthy breakfast.

He went back to his room and booted up the PC. It was early afternoon in Unova, so Skyla and Elesa were probably online already.

 **$_explorer** has logged in

 **Thor_tianna:** omg hes alive

 **$_explorer** : debatable

 **birdbrain** : told ya. hes like a cockroach

 **Thor_tianna** : happy late birthday ~(˘▾˘~)

 **Thor_tianna** : glad ur not dead

 **$_explorer** : that makes one of us

 **birdbrain** : omfg yall change ur names my mom saw this and thinks im in a dark web sex cult

 **Thor_tianna** : lmaoooo. his is worse tho

 **$_explorer** : wdym its like that show but instead of dora im dolla the explorer

 **Thor_tianna** : omg hes so pure

 **birdbrain** : and u call me stupid

 **$_explorer** : fu my name is cool

 **birdbrain** : suuuuure

 **birdbrain** : whatever… how r things back there? seemed real scary on the news we legit got worried when u didn’t log in

 **$_explorer** : wdym??

 **birdbrain** : srsly?

 **Thor_tianna** : ??? the whole Hoenn thing with the legendaries???

 **$_explorer** : still no idea what ur talking abt

 **Thor_tianna** : wow hes srs… herepkmns://mmm.nippontimesgl.moc/hoenn-region-devastated-by-groudon-and-kyogre-weather-anomalies-expected-in-whole-country

Blue read the article, feeling his jaw dropping. It was settled already, as usual no thanks to any authorities. Some kid had captured the legendaries and defeated the local gangs (and stolen Blue’s youngest champion record, but priorities).

 **birdbrain** : does ur country even have a police force

 **birdbrain** : why is it always kids that deal with organized crime

 **Thor_tianna** : oh shit do we also have to take down the mafia??? omg Skyla lets go train this weekend

 **$_explorer** : damn

 **$_explorer** : so that’s why the weather is so shit

 **birdbrain** : how tf did u not hear abt this? even here its been all over the news

 **Thor_tianna** : bro u literally live there lmao

 **$_explorer** : i was off the grid for a few days

 **Thor_tianna** : doing what??

 **$_explorer** : training

 **birdbrain** : under a rock?

 **$_explorer** : doesn’t matter

 **Thor_tianna** : wow u sound so shady r u in the mafia now??

 **$_explorer** : ffs

 **$_explorer** : im not in the mafia

 **$_explorer** : are we playing COB or CA?

 **birdbrain** : im feeling cavecraft actually

 **Thor_tianna** : omg yesss yall gotta see my new fort

 **$_explorer** : aite. group call?

 **birdbrain** : ye leggo

***

The next few days also had horrible weather, so Blue stayed home for the most part and tried fixing his sleeping schedule. Mornings were the previous day’s afternoons in Unova, so the gaming sessions with Skyla and Elesa continued, but after he woke up rather than before bed.

The afternoons he spent in their old garage, where some of his Pokemon took shelter when the yard was out of the picture. They were getting pretty restless with the constant rain but still declined going into the PC and he knew gramps would flip out if he tried to keep them in the house.

In the evenings, he’d sit down with Daisy and discuss the different profiles. She wanted to go into medicine, but had chosen to study humanities because of her interest in history and literature. Apparently, it was still possible to get into med school if you choose the right electives and sacrificed your social life.

The ethics and philosophy concentration in the humanities seemed cool (thanks, Cynthia), but, like the whole profile, it had way too much reading and essay writing, which his sister was fond of, but Blue would gladly pass on.

PE and combat training had the most action if you chose to focus on Pokemon battles, but looking over the curriculum, it didn’t teach him much about Pokemon that he didn’t already know. It had a lot of sports if you focused on athletics, but he decided he’d rather choose a club sport and not lose all the fun of it. The combat concentration was pretty much a gateway to the military, so another definite no.

Information and technology was just confusing. Blue liked using computers and Pokeballs but building them seemed too complicated. The coding concentration was a whole new beast in an alien language, so that was off the table as well. Graphic design could be cool—he’d get to make game characters and worlds. Too bad he didn’t have a single artistic bone in his body, unless it was about creatively insulting people.

Science was the only profile that really interested him. There were the general concentration choices of biology, chemistry, and physics. Each branched further in its last year, with bio later focusing on either Pokemon or humans—an obvious choice for Blue. He’d always been curious about how Pokemon’s bodies worked and how they got to have so many different types and abilities. Science and math had also been his easiest subjects at school; it was all just logical.

The problem was, he didn’t want to follow directly in his family’s footsteps. His dad had also been a scientist, so if Blue went down this path as well, it’d look like he was begging for gramps’ approval.

“Oh, come on. Are you seriously going to give up what’s interesting to you just because grandpa happens to be a scientist?!” Daisy seemed upset that this was even crossing his mind. “Yeah, he’s famous, you’re famous, someone will probably make an association, but no one actually cares that much.” She sighed. “Including gramps, unfortunately. It’s just a high school profile. You might end up doing something completely unrelated when you grow up.”

“But what if I actually wanna be a scientist and people think I’m just doing it to be like gramps?”

“Holy sh—Would you stop caring so much about what people think? You got famous too young with all that champion drama and I’m sorry for that. But people are always going to judge you. You can’t please everyone, so might as well do what you want.”

“I know that, but…I dunno, it’s not that easy to just stop caring,” he mumbled pathetically.

He’d honestly tried. Some days were better than others and he could genuinely not give a shit, but sometimes he’d stumble on a nasty comment and think about it for a week. He tried to avoid looking at anything about himself, especially online, but sometimes the temptation of a stupid clickbait article was too strong.

Daisy’s irritation completely disappeared and she rubbed his arm with a soft look.

“Of course, it’s not easy. But you can’t let public opinion dictate your choices. Besides, it doesn’t even sound like you want to study the same thing as grandpa. His focus is Pokemon and trainer psychology and interactions. You’re talking about physiology and genetics. If you become a scientist, you’ll be in completely different fields.”

“Ugh, I know that, we both grew up in that lab, sis. But most people are too stupid to know the difference.” He paused when her eyebrow went dangerously high. “Which is why I shouldn’t care about their opinion,” he finished with determination.

“Exactly,” Daisy gleefully clapped her hands. “Aw, you’re so mature all of a sudden.” Oh no, she was pinching his cheeks. “What am I gonna do when I can’t even nag you?” she said in a fake-sad voice while squishing Blue’s face into silly expressions.

“Stop that, you damn Pinsir! Don’t you have uni exams to study for?!”

Her face quickly fell.

“Ugh, did you have to remind me?”

“Yes, now go back to your cave and study. All those poetry readings aren’t gonna get you into med school.”

“Fine, fine, sheesh. How did you turn out to be such a prick?” She squished his face one last time, but still got up.

“Must be in the genes,” he said, massaging his traumatized cheeks.

“All right, I do have to study. Think some more and let me know what you’ve decided. If you’re serious about this, we’ll have to choose a school as well.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll look up some online.”

“Don’t stay up too late. Say hi to the girls. And if your screaming wakes me up again, I’ll cut your internet cable,” she finished with a sweet smile.

***

The constant storms had started getting truly scary and Blue found himself worrying how Red was dealing with the weather up on Mt. Icicle. He still had two days until his deadline, though, so Blue left it alone for now and focused on mentally preparing himself for high school.

They ended up choosing Viridian High. It was the best combination of reputation and convenience. Daisy was pretty happy with her education there and said that lots of her senpais had gotten in their top choices of uni. There was also a good variety of clubs and the school gave a lot of freedom to students to modify their curriculum.

Skyla and Elesa were super excited for him. They’d both gotten eight badges, but the Unovan education system was really different. You couldn’t just skip to high school, since both elementary and middle school taught a mixture of basic subjects plus essential Pokemon knowledge. Blue explained that in Nippon primary school was for basic subjects and minimum journey prep, secondary was for Pokemon studies, and high school was for real academia.

Their systems meant that, technically, in Nippon many kids could skip school, but very few had enough knowledge to actually get eight badges. In Unova, on the other hand, kids were better prepared, so more people finished their journey and returned to school anyway.

He also complained about the one thing which really sucked about Viridian - the lack of Pokemon battling clubs. The town’s gym was still closed, so there was nowhere for an extracurricular to be held, since the school’s small battling ground was reserved only for the PE and combat profile. Daisy had told him that some students battled on the roads or in the forest, but since it wasn’t technically within city limits, it couldn’t be counted as an official club.

Their sympathetic bitching got interrupted when his Pokegear rang. Who the hell called at 6 am?!

 **Incoming call** : **Tweedledumb**

Blue said something incomprehensible to the girls and closed the video chat, quickly picking up.

“Pikapika. Piipikapikachuuuu. CHUUU”

“What? Red, get the rat away from the phone!”

“PikaaAAAA”

Umbreon stirred from her bed at the corner of the room and looked around confused.

“What the hell?”

“CHUUUUUUUUUUUU”

Umbreon was suddenly rushing to him and pulling at his pant leg with her teeth.

“What is it?”

There were more Pikascreams coming from the phone as Umbreon dragged him hard enough to almost make him fall from the chair.

“Okay, okay, I’ll come. Red, I’m still here. Umbreon wants something but I’m taking the phone.”

He opened the door for his frantic Pokemon and tried to follow her as she ran down the stairs and outside into the pouring rain. She finally stopped when they were inside the garage. Umbreon stirred Pidgeot and Haxorus awake and told them something that made them look at Blue with alarm. She turned to him as well, gesturing for him to come down with her paw.

“Red, say something—your rodent is making my Pokemon crazy,” he said as he squatted closer to Umbreon. When he was low enough, she lightly smacked his hand until he lowered the Pokegear. She mewled something into the intercom and calmer squeals started coming from the other side. They were having some sort of conversation, which ended with Umbreon pressing the end call button with her nail and looking anxiously at Blue.

“What is it, girl?”

She signalled for him to follow again and, once outside, look into the direction of where Mt. Silver’s top would be visible if it weren’t for the heavy clouds.

“Does Pikachu want us to go there?”

She nodded.

“Now?!”

She nodded again, seeming distressed. Blue had no clue what the hell was happening, but if Pikachu had to call, it might actually be an emergency. Shit, what was the best team to have in case of emergency?!

“Okay, wake up Volcarona and Golduck. I’ll go get Alakazam and everyone’s balls.”

They were ready to go in less than two minutes. Pidgeot was an experienced flyer, even in rain. She flew way faster than usual, reaching the mountain’s base in less than twenty minutes.

Blue quickly got through the first cave’s lakes and waterfalls with Golduck. After that, he just held on as Haxorus quickly jumped higher up the slope, despite the raging snowstorm. Umbreon quietly mewled directions until they reached a part Blue’d never seen before. A few minutes later he noticed an unusual long dent in the snow, leading somewhere beyond where he could see. It looked like something had been dragged. With such heavy snow, it must’ve been recent, otherwise it would’ve filled up already.

As they followed the line, Haxorus sped up even more when they started seeing red spots that looked too much like blood for Blue’s comfort. The spots turned into lines, which turned into whole blotches, and finally there was a giant bloody trail that led them straight to a small cave at the back of the mountain.

The first thing he saw inside was Red, sprawled out at the end of the bloody track. Pikachu greeted them with angry squeals and sparks directed at Blue.

“What the fuck is your problem? Let me through—he’s bleeding!”

The sparkling rodent kept angrily screeching, looking like she was about to electrocute Blue. Umbreon quickly jumped in front of him, growling in defence until the mouse finally let them through to an unconscious Red.

His clothes were completely soaked in blood.

“Why isn’t he in a hospital!?”

More angry screeching.

Yeah, he wasn’t getting any answers for now.

None of Red’s other Pokemon were out, which meant whatever happened had been outside of battle. Not that they could be of much help; even Charizard couldn’t safely fly him down to a hospital in this weather. They’d need a special team.

Blue checked his Pokegear. Somehow, he had reception in this particular cave. He started dialling when a small shock went through his body.

“What the actual fuck, you stupid rat? I’m trying to get him help!”

Pikachu completely ignored him and started heatedly explaining something to Umbreon, who looked more and more distressed with each passing second. They both looked at Red’s filthy backpack, after which she turned towards Blue and slowly shook her head.

“What? No hospitals? Are you serious?”

Umbreon nodded, sombre but firm.

Fuck.

He trusted her though. If she said no hospitals it must be serious. Fuck’s sake, Red; what did you do?

Blue let out Alakazam. He couldn’t teleport a living doctor, but he could bring items. First though:

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Alakazam, scan his body for spinal cracks, internal bleeding, organ damage, any of that. Shit, I can’t move him at all if he’s seriously hurt what the fuck do I do then…Even though sparky here seems to have dragged him for miles.” He shot an accusatory look at Pikachu, who legit started preparing for a Thunderbolt until Umbreon growled at her.

Alakazam opened his eyes from where he was hovering and shook his head.

“All good on the inside? No infection either?”

The Pokemon nodded.

Okay, just don’t panic. Might not be as bad as it looks.

He quickly checked Red’s head for any wounds. Fuck, he was so pale. There was some blood at the back of his head, but it didn’t seem deep and Alakazam had said no brain damage, so he left it alone for now.

Next, he removed the ripped t-shirt. The sensation of blood coating his fingers as he lifted Red’s torso made him nauseated, but he detached himself and methodically checked for wounds. Red’s whole back was badly scraped but they looked like simple surface wounds. More serious were the long, deep cuts on his chest and on his side, right above the hip bone.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Blue was not prepared for this. He’d done stitches once on a training kit while his grandpa was doing some research at a Pokemon Centre. He’d had a basic first aid class in school. He’d watched a season of Joy’s Anatomy . Crap.

There was no one else who could help right now, so he had to get his shit together. Turning to Alakazam, he started barking commands.

“Teleport to the centre at the bottom and bring me some alcohol, bandages, towels, cotton balls, and a suture kit. Oh, and antibiotic ointments too.”

He took out Golduck and Volcarona.

“Golduck, gently spray the big wounds. Volcarona, heat the water he’s spraying. Be careful not to scald. Both of you, try to clean up the skin as much as possible.”

While they got on with their task, Blue took the alcohol and stitching kit from Alakazam who’d just returned. Opening the large bottle of ethanol, he poured a generous amount on his hands and rubbed them long enough to hopefully kill any bacteria, then did the same with the suture tools.

He took everything to Red’s side and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

Opening the sterile pack with the needle and thread, Blue took the small hook out with the plier thingies and grabbed the sharp tweezers, using them to lift the upper side of the chest wound. Oh god, it was deep.

Not the time to be a pussy.

He took another quick breath and slowly pierced the skin with the curved needle, adjusting the angle so that it would go deep enough to actually close up the wound. The sharp end came out pretty close to where he wanted it to, so Blue pierced the other side of the cut, and carefully guided the needle out. Getting the surgeon’s knot right took a little time, but he made sure it was correct before cutting the thread and working on the next stitch.

He took his time on the first wound. When he was done, the bleeding had finally stopped and it looked properly closed, even if the stitches were a little wonky. He generously treated it with the antibacterial gel and moved on to the one on Red’s side.

It wasn’t as long, but it looked deeper. Just as he prepared for the first stitch, Red twitched and tried to stand up, almost causing Blue to drop the needle.

“Lay down and stay still. You passed out. I’m patching you up.”

He deemed that enough explaining for now and got back to work. Red looked very agitated and kept glancing at Pikachu, the two of them having some sort of conversation that Blue couldn’t understand. He got over his annoyance and kept working on the wound.

After the stitches were all done, he put some gel on the area and finally looked at Red, who propped himself up on his elbows, staring at Blue with wide eyes.

“Care to explain?”

Silence. Of course.

Blue was beyond trying at this point and there was more work to be done.

“Turn around—I gotta clean your back. Careful when moving, I’m not replacing those stitches.”

Red nodded obediently and slowly sat up, turning his back to Blue.

“Alright, Golduck, Volcarona, same procedure, clean up his back.”

When they finished up, Blue gently dried off the skin with a towel and soaked a cotton ball in some alcohol, carefully disinfecting and bandaging the numerous abrasions. Red would twitch and huff from time to time, but aside from that, he didn’t make a sound. The head wound was cleaned last. The bleeding had already stopped, but one could never know with those.

______________________________________________________________________________

“You seem fine, but you obviously took a hit to the head. And you lost a lot of blood. Take out Charizard in case you start dying. I can’t do more than this. If anything happens, you gotta go to a hospital.”

Red started frantically shaking his head again and pointing to his backpack. Blue couldn’t see his face, but the rat was also squeaking now and even his own Pokemon joined in.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, will you tell me what the hell happened?! You were bleeding to death and still refuse to get off this dumb mountain—what’s wrong with you?!”

Red quickly started turning,

“Careful with the fucking stitches,” Blue screeched in the highest pitch he'd ever produced, the literal last drop of his patience flying out into the storm. If that idiot ripped even one of those goddamn stitches, he was gonna take the tiny-ass hook and gut him like a fish.

Red stayed frozen in place for a while, waiting for Blue’s breathing to go back to normal, and turned around, carefully rotating with his legs.

Pettily, Blue chose that exact moment to get up and go to his discarded backpack. He took out some bills and handed them to Alakazam.

“Go to a convenience store and get as much water as you can carry and some food. Stop by a pharmacy too and get a bottle of iron pills.”

Alakazam took the money and disappeared. Blue used the time to search for the spare clothes he always kept in his bag. Bless Daisy’s thoughtfulness; she’d returned the old rags after washing them. Not that Red deserved lavender-scented softener.

He tossed the clothes at his half-naked nemesis, scoffing a bit when he managed to hurl the boxer briefs hard enough that they stuck to Red’s face. He was half-tempted to spike an evolution stone or two as well, but he didn’t wanna put all that effort of saving the bastard to waste.

When Alakazam returned, Blue took the supplies and carried them over to Red along with some towels.

“Drink as much water as you can over the next few days and take the iron pills every day until the bottle finishes. Rub the gel over the stitches. If anything starts oozing or swelling you have to go to a hospital.”

Red nodded after each command, except the hospital one.

“Fine. Don’t. Drop dead for all I care,” Blue said nonchalantly, too tired to keep shouting anymore. “You have two more days to come back, so it’s unlikely you’ll die from sepsis before I’ve sent the special forces here.”

If he wasn’t getting any answers, he was about ready to get the fuck out of there. Before he could stand up, Red grabbed his wrist and stared at him pleadingly.

“The hell are you giving me puppy dog eyes for? I’m leaving like you want me to.”

Red shook his head and, still clutching Blue’s wrist, scanned the cave for a while. Seemingly unable to find anything, he started tapping his forefinger on the ground in a familiar rhythm. Blue was in the midst of experiencing war flashbacks from all the battles lost to his rival's over the top morse code training, when the yellow rat came out of nowhere and started its typical annoying squealing, sounding even angrier than usual.

Watching their fight, or whatever it was, made Blue feel like he was in a new country all over again, completely unable to understand the language. The heated signalling ceased with Red rolling his eyes and pulling Blue way too close to his still very naked torso. As he stumbled into his rival’s lap, Blue’s cheeks heated up and his breathing quickened, probably because of the alcohol fumes still coming from the cleaned wounds.

All thoughts ceased when Red straight-up patted his ass until he found the Pokegear in Blue’s back pocket and, after gently pushing back his flushing mess of an arch enemy, started furiously typing.

Blue had never felt more grateful to the universe when a particularly strong wind blew some snow into the cave, chilling him down to the bone and jumpstarting his brain again, right as Red shoved the Pokegear screen in his face.

 **You** : How did you find me? And where? Was there anyone or anything around me?

“Oh, so you’re asking the questions now. Yeah, that makes sense. I come scale Mt. Murder to save your sorry ass and of course I’m the one who owes you an explanation. And what the hell is with the texting? Are you a monk now? Is that why you don’t talk? Monks don’t molest people you pervert!”

Red looked a weird mixture of exasperated and amused, but he quickly pulled himself back together and started typing again.

 **You** : Not a monk. Can’t talk will explain la…

“Wait what? What do you mean you can’t talk? Red, what happened? Are you under some sort of oath? Can you physically not talk? Oh my God, is that penance for your gambling addiction? We’ll get you help, just come back!”

Red quickly shushed him with a finger to his mouth and tapped the Pokegear, urging Blue to keep reading.

 **You** : …ter. It’s very important, so please just tell me where you found me and if there was anything around me?

Red seemed gravely serious, so Blue answered without much fanfare this time.

“Pikabitch called from your Pokegear and told Umbreon how to find you. I just followed. We didn’t see anything but snow and your blood on the way. We found you right here in this cave.”

Red looked contemplative for a second and turned to Pikachu again, but the mouse was deliberately ignoring him. He then got up slowly, conscious of his stitches, and went to fetch his soaked backpack. The rat must’ve dragged the thing through the snow as well. For a second, Blue thought he was looking for his stupid hat, but, thankfully, Red pulled out the trainer belt that held his team and set it aside. He continued searching for something, finally retrieving a deactivated Pokeball and staring at it like he was expecting it to suddenly come alive.

“What’s in there?”

Blue’s voice seemed to startle Red, who looked at him terrified and quickly came back, grabbing the Pokegear out of his hands.

 **You** : Leave. Now!

“Oh, fuck off. Five minutes ago, you’re holding onto me like an overgrown toddler and now you want me to leave?! Well, guess what, you dumb waste of a cuntpuddle? You had your fucking chance to get rid of me, now I’m not going anywhere until you fucking explain yourself!”

Red let out a dramatic sigh, as if Blue was the insufferable one. He glanced at Umbreon, but quickly shook his head as if remembering something and started typing again.

 **You** : What level is your Alakazam and does he know Shadow Ball? What level is the fire bug?

“How is that of any relevance right now?! I’m not battling you—you probably lost a litre of blood and you might have a concussion.”

 **You** : Just answer the question.

“Oh, yes, how insolent of me to disobey your Royal Majesty Lord Braindead’s command. Please forgive me and spare my kin!”

 **You** : Please! It’s important.

“You have a weird definition of important.” Red looked like he wanted to rip out his own hair, so Blue finally answered his pointless question. “Alakazam is level 86 and of course he fucking knows Shadow Ball. Volcarona is at 64.”

Red processed that for a second and finally seemed to calm down a bit.

 **You** : Not ideal, but you can stay. I think the storm is too strong to go out anyway.

“Gee, thanks, milord,” Blue sarcastically mumbled, as he glanced outside. While he’d been busy saving undeserving dimwits, the snowstorm had turned brutal. Yeah, he was not gonna be scaling any mountains right now. He turned around to find the screen in his face yet again.

 **You** : I need to discuss something with Pikachu, but I’ll explain everything right after. Keep Alakazam, Umbreon, and Volcarona out.

With that, Red headed to the deeper part of the cave, where a sparkling vermin was electrocuting innocent rocks. Blue almost threw another tantrum at the sheer disrespect, but decided he’d had enough for one morning. He quietly went to lie against Haxorus for some warmth and, hopefully, a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The void is speaking back!  
> Am I going stir crazy or is someone reading this thing?!  
> Seriously thanks to everyone who's left any type of feedback on this, I'd be so happy if my stupid ramblings actually bring joy to people. <3  
> I dropped a lot of clues about what's going on in that last part, but I hope I didn't make it too easy to completely deduce.  
> Also, as Blue's cursing is getting worse, I sincerely want to apologise to the great British nation for shamelessly stealing its insults.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -my dumbass forgot Bulbasaur is grass/poison (I'm team charmander, sry) but if you're nitpicky just pretend it gets the secondary typing in its later evolutions

Blue was woken up by the horrible noise of a Pokegear vibrating on solid rock right next to his leg.

 **Daisy** : Where are you?!

 **You** : why aren’t u in school

 **Daisy** : There’s a typhoon outside! Why aren’t you home?

Crap. He quickly tried to come up with a plausible excuse that wouldn’t make her go out and hunt him down in the storm.

 **You** : training on victory road. i’ll wait it out in the caves

Geographically, it was almost the truth and it seemed Daisy bought it.

Blue looked around, still a bit drowsy. The figure chewing an energy bar next to a small campfire confirmed the events he remembered weren’t just a wild nightmare.

“You can hardly pull off my style,” he teased as a form of greeting. It was a small lie. Blue’s spare clothes did look a tad big, but the black t-shirt with the blazing metal band logo nicely contrasted Red’s non-dying pale complexion. The messy black hair stylishly framed a face that turned out annoyingly good-looking when not obscured by a dirty cap. The chubby cheeks Blue used to love terrorizing had left behind only a faint roundness that gave a healthy glow to the high cheekbones already peeking through the baby fat. Red’s giant eyes were still the same voids of black, now looking solemn as they reflected the clashing lights of the snow outside and the small fire.

Red jumped a bit at the joking remark and quickly got up. He strode over like a crusader on his way to the Holy Land and dramatically presented a beaten-up Pokegear. Taking the device, Blue absentmindedly noted that he was finally taller. Small victories.

He was greeted with a wall of text that didn’t fit the screen.

 **You** : Mewtwo was in the Cerulean cave. I became champion only to get access. I tried catching it right after our battle, but the Master Ball didn’t work and it was too strong. I came here to train. People freaked out when they saw me at PokeCentres, so I stopped going and stayed here. I kept tracking it and there were more cases of people getting hurt there, so I kept training. After you came, I went down there again and got it. Healed up the team and was on my way here to get my stuff. It came out of its Pokeball and attacked me. That’s when Pikachu called you. I’m sorry you were dragged into this, but it’s too dangerous to stay here, so please leave after the storm.

Blue’s brain took its time processing all of that. After a few seconds, he managed to shut his jaw and glare at Red.

“Okay, first of all, fuck you. If there is actually a deranged fake legendary on the loose, if you beat it, I can beat it too. I have a dark type and a bug type in case you haven’t noticed.”

Red swiping his Pokegear back interrupted Blue’s confused rant.

 **You** : It knows Aura Sphere. It’s level 95.

“Yeah, so what. My whole team is still strong enough to take it but whatever, that’s not even the point. Let’s say I believe you actually found it. How the fuck would a Master Ball not work?! If you’re gonna try to bullshit me at least remember your basic theory, dumbass. No Pokemon can just escape from its ball, that’s literally impossible. And fuck all of that why did you never call your mom?! And why are you not talking?!”

Red’s irritation morphed into guilt at Blue’s last words. He pulled the Pokegear and started typing again. It took a while, so Blue’s mind wandered, trying to make sense of his rival’s nonsensical story. Red had never lied to him. He did love to omit essential details sometimes but whenever he felt like sharing, he was always honest to the point of being outright rude in his tactlessness.

But the whole thing went against everything he knew. They hadn’t studied the precise mechanism behind the Pokeball, but once a Pokemon let itself be caught, it could never leave on its own, unless its trainer released it, or abandoned it in an active ball for more than a week, or an inactive one for more than a month. Being in the ball slowed down its metabolism enough to survive for months, while the PC stopped it almost completely. The whole thing was invented with safety in mind because trained Pokemon tended to be much stronger than wild ones. The Master Ball was supposed to be even stronger, pulling in the Pokemon with strength equivalent to the PC.

The screen in his face snapped him back to the present.

 **You** : I know it seems impossible but it happened. I should’ve known something was wrong when the Master Ball didn’t work but I thought it was defective or something. I thought I just needed to be stronger so I just trained. I’m sorry I never texted but I knew you went to Unova and I didn’t know how to explain all of this to mom without worrying her. So much time passed that I had no idea how to get back and now I can’t, even if I want to.

Blue’s heart almost broke when he saw the pleading anguish in his rival’s eyes. After a long sigh, he awkwardly patted Red’s shoulder.

“Okay, okay, calm down. It sounds insane, but I believe you. Who knows what happened to that thing, if it’s actually real. It might be a mutant.” Red still looked like a kicked puppy, but at least he seemed less frenzied. Blue continued tenderly “Look, I have a shit ton of questions so,” he pressed the button on Red’s Pokegear and sent the message to himself, handing the device back, “how about you answer here, cuz it’s kinda hard to keep track of everything.”

Red quickly nodded, so Blue sat down with his legs crossed and pulled out his own Pokegear, where a new message from Tweedledumb was waiting.

“So weird that there’s signal here.”

Red joined him in sitting down and started his typing.

 **Tweedledumb** : This is my signal cave.

Blue’s eyebrows shot up.

“You have a signal cave?”

 **Tweedledumb** : I don’t actually live here.

“But you live in the mountain? In a cave? Well, sorry, a special cave. Your living cave? How about a spa cave? Oh no, please tell me there’s no Pachinko cave, we can’t lose you again,” Blue dramatically pressed an arm to his own chest, but it was quickly smacked by his smirking nemesis.

“Okay, okay, you’ll tell me about your caves later. How about we start with why you’re texting instead of speaking? Did Mewtwo do something to you?” The mere idea gave him shivers.

Red quickly shook his head, but his face went back to gloomy, as he seemed to mull over how to respond. He started typing a few times, just to delete everything, finally settling for

 **Tweedledumb** : It wasn’t Mewtwo, but it’s a really long story.

Blue rolled his eyes and pointedly glanced at the raging storm outside.

“We’ve got time.”

For a second there Red stared like a cornered Pokemon, but he took a deep breath and nodded with determination.

 **Tweedledumb** : Just be prepared that it’s really dumb and I know that now but don’t yell at me.

Damn, did he actually yell that much?

“Promise I won’t yell, just tell me the truth,” he said, doing his best to be reasonable. Red nodded again and got back to his Pokegear.

 **Tweedledumb** : I helped Bill out and he was the one who gave me the SS Anne ticket. He also gave me a Bulbasaur he’d bread. I went to train in the Rock tunnel. I still hadn’t found an EXP share anywhere, so you know how it goes, lead with the weak Pokemon, let it train for a little, and then let the rest of the team take care of the wild encounter.

Blue nodded, that was all standard procedure, but he didn’t see how this could get Red into a silent cult.

 **Tweedledumb** : But we encountered this Zubat that used Mean Look, so I couldn’t switch Bulbasaur out. It was already really low on HP and it looked so small and scared and that Zubat looked like it was preparing for something big, so I thought it was going for a Poison attack.

Oh, no. Blue saw where this was going. He tried to ask as calmly as possible

“Red, please tell me you did not jump in and take an attack from a wild Pokemon.”

Red could barely meet his eyes.

“Fuck’s sake.” He massaged the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the overwhelming desire to yell at Red. He shouldn’t have made any promises. “How could you…?! Red, this is literally the first thing anyone learns. Never jump between Pokemon.”

 **Tweedledumb** : I know.

 **Tweedledumb** : I panicked.

Blue could feel the beginning of a killer headache from all the insanity he’d been subjected to, but he still couldn’t put the pieces together.

“So wait, you jumped in but what does that have to do with you not speaking? A Pokemon’s poison isn’t toxic to humans, right?”

 **Tweedledumb** : Some can be

 **Tweedledumb** : But it didn’t use a poison attack. It used Extrasensory.

“You took a Psychic attack?! Where did it hit?”

 **Tweedledumb** : It was flying right above. I shielded my face with my hands, but it hit the top of my head and my entire neck and chest. My throat felt weird, like it was squeezing itself, but I was fine otherwise.

“Please tell me you went to a hospital!”

Red’s typing paused for a second but he didn’t look up.

 **Tweedledumb** : Whenever I tried to speak my throat just clenched, but this was the day before the cruise sailed, so I decided to board and see if it goes away later.

Blue’s facepalm echoed through the cave. This whole thing was a textbook case of breaking every single safety protocol imaginable.

At the same time though, there’d been plenty of times when Blue himself was worried his Pokemon’d get hurt. But he’d learned enough about the Pokeball to drill into his head how it would always automatically withdraw them if vitals fell below a certain threshold. Every trainer was supposed to know that.

With a sigh, he decided to skip the scolding. Red looked like he’d beaten himself up enough about it.

“Hey, at least your Super Secret Morse Code training technique came in handy after all, huh.” That got a weak smile going.

 **Tweedledumb** : I tapped my foot all the way to the championship.

Blue couldn’t help but snicker.

“Can’t believe I lost to a fucking tap dancer.”

They both laughed at the ridiculous imagery, Blue with undignified chuckles and Red with silent huffs. Too bad the moment of levity had to go.

“You did go to a hospital after the cruise, right?”

 **Tweedledumb** : Yeah

 **Tweedledumb** : The doctors said it probably flinched my throat muscles and something else about my mucus cells, and said it might have hit some sort of nerve. Three Chanseys fainted using Healing Wish on me, but nothing happened. They called it Aphonia. They made me cough and stuff and said it might be treatable but they’d need more tests and I might need to go to a psychologist, but the whole Team Rocket thing was happening, so I couldn’t really drop that, and then the Mewtwo thing happened and I couldn’t train if people would constantly bother me so I stayed here.

As he was reading, Blue cringed at the bullshit excuses, but tried to speak calmly.

“Red, this is dumb and you know it. Nothing should come before your health, even the fate of Kanto or whatever heroic crap you tell yourself. Let’s get you to a doctor immediately, maybe it’s not too late.”

Red was shaking his head like a madman while typing.

 **Tweedledumb** : I can’t go! What if Mewtwo escapes the ball while I’m out?

“Mewtwo? Who cares, let the authorities deal with it for once.”

 **Tweedledumb** : It already escaped one lab, if they can’t control it, they’ll kill it!

Blue was on the brink of saying to just let them if it was that dangerous and outright attacked people. But he stopped himself. Of course, Red wouldn’t take kindly to that solution, and besides even Blue didn’t have the heart to let a Pokemon die just like that.

“Okay, why don’t you return it to its cave?”

Red just stared at him dumbly and then waved his hands around before giving up and picking the Pokegear.

 **Tweedledumb** : That’s literally going back to square zero. I caught it because it was dangerous, I can’t just let it roam around.

 **Tweedledumb** : Like it or not, we’re the strongest trainers in the region, we have a responsibility.

“Yeah right, so what’s your plan. Sit here guarding that thing until you die?”

Blue wanted to smack the stoicism out of Red’s nodding head. He pushed his brain to try to think of some compromise that would get Red to come down already.

“Let’s tell Lance. He’s the actual champion. The Elite Four should be able to deal with it.”

 **Tweedledumb** : What if interpol is looking for it! I dug around a lot and I think they know about it. The Elite Four wouldn’t be able to do jack. Promise me you won’t tell anyone!

“Fuck’s sake, Red, how do you expect me to promise that. What, let you rot in here? Best case scenario it doesn’t kill you. We still know nothing of its lifespan, it’ll probably outlive you. What then? Back to square zero again, huh genius. Just let it live in its cave or faint it and keep it in its ball.”

Red’s appalled expression was all the confirmation needed that this wasn’t happening. Blue didn’t like it either, not healing Pokemon and leaving them to suffer in their balls was one of the worst things a trainer could do. But what if the Pokemon was a manic god-like creature with a grudge against humanity?

 **Tweedledumb** : I’d never do that. I don’t know about long term. I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll try training it.

“Yeah, brilliant idea, give it a massage and a haircut as well, maybe it’ll give you a quick death instead of letting you bleed out.”

 **Tweedledumb** : And what do you suggest? Let Interpol kill it? Leave it here for someone else to find and get hurt? Come down and take it with me? Yeah, Pallet really needs some remodelling, why not let Mewtwo take down a couple of buildings.

Blue rolled his eyes. He hadn’t missed Red’s sass. He prepared for a nasty retort, but bit his tongue. Bickering wasn’t gonna solve the issue at hand.

“Fine, fine I get it. You don’t have to be sarcastic, you dick.”

His rival’s eyeroll looked almost painful.

 **Tweedledumb** : Seriously? That coming from you? Guess I can’t help it, I learned form the best.

Red grinned dumbly as he sent the message.

“Oh, fuck off,” Blue mumbled, but he could barely keep his frown from turning into a nostalgic smile. He’d missed having a best friend. Better not get used to it though, with how things were looking.

“What if we like train five or six strong Pokemon and let them guard it here. I’ll breed Alakazam and teach all his kids Shadow Ball! And then they’ll breed and teach their kids and so on.” His Pokemon’s scandalized expression would’ve been hilarious if not for the grim situation. Red didn’t seem too keen on the idea either.

 **Tweedledumb** : If those documents in the Cinnabar Mansion are true, this all happened because humans were power hungry. We can’t force Pokemon to take care of our mess.

Yeah, that was kind of an obvious one. Blue tried thinking more, but all his tired braincells came up with were blank walls. He could feel Red observing him quietly. His rival looked so small hugging his knees in the icy cave, nothing like the confident prodigy who swept Blue’s team at the Indigo Plateau. Losing had been one of the worst moments in his life, but that fated battle seemed nothing but trivial under the gravity of their current situation.

“This is not the end of our conversation. Give me the Master Ball, when I get out of here, I’ll go talk to the Silph. Co people. And Bill might be of help too,” Red was already hastily typing something but before he could press send, Blue continued. “Fuck’s sake calm down, I won’t tell anyone about you or the psycho lab rat. I know how to be smooth.”

Red’s sceptical look did not appear particularly convinced, but he stopped jamming the buttons.

“We’ll brainstorm more ideas later. First, we gotta tell your mom you’re alive.”

He legit looked terrified and the furious typing started back again.

“Oh, give me a break. What now? You think Delia will rat you to Interpol?”

He’d read the idiot’s mind. Red let out a pitiful huff.

“Seriously, why did you never tell your mom? I know it’s hard to explain and all, but she would’ve believed you…or at least she’d know you’re still kicking.”

Red’s eyes were fixed on his shoes as he slowly picked up the Pokegear again. He was obviously struggling to formulate his thoughts, but Blue waited patiently.

 **Tweedledumb** : She let me go on my adventure without question because she trusted me so much. I was too dumb to follow basic safety rules and now her only son is a mute. I didn’t want to hide it from her but I had no idea how to tell her either.

Blue blinked at the screen a few times to make sure what he’d read was real. As the dismal silence hung over them, he carefully thought out his next words.

“You can’t think like that. It was an accident. I know the whole killer legendary thing is a great excuse, but you can’t hide in here forever. We’ll figure this out and then you’ll have to face your mom. And get proper help.” Red looked like he’d rather faint again than have this conversation, but Blue pushed. “What happened to you was shit luck. But you gotta accept it and move forward. I’m sure there will be many treatment options. And even if you can’t talk anymore,” Red flinched at the words and hugged his knees again, “it’s not the end of your life. You can’t do much but play out the hand you were dealt.”

Red’s weak smile at the gambling analogy couldn’t hide the raw emotion in his eyes. He started rocking back and forth, staring out into the storm. Blue let him be and turned to Umbreon who gave him a meaningful look and a firm nod. As he absent-mindedly scratched her back, his thoughts wandered around. Growing up with Daisy had made him uncannily good at compassionate reality checks, but despite his own wise-ass words, he had no idea what he’d do if he were in Red’s shoes. Probably forsake the world and its unfairness.

After a few minutes of silence, his Pokegear vibrated again. Red was looking at him with something close to determination pushing through the despair.

 **Tweedledumb** : I’ll send her a message soon. I don’t know if I’ll tell her about the muteness of Mewtwo, but she’ll know I’m alive.

“Of course,” he tried to sound encouraging. “You don’t have to do everything at once. Take your time.”

Red nodded, looking deep in thought. Something seemed to puzzle him and he picked up the device again.

 **Tweedledumb** : Since when are you so considerate?

It seemed like a genuine question and Blue barely supressed his laughter at his rival’s trademark crassness.

“Piss off you ingrate, I’ve always been a great person.”

He could basically hear the “suuuuure” in Red’s nod. Blue rolled his eyes but he was feeling nice and they were on the topic of sharing disastrously dumb mistakes…

“I did kinda fuck up as well. Majorly. I fixed it, but I can relate I guess.” Red’s curious gaze prompted him to continue. “Well, you said you know I was in Unova, right? Wait a second how do you even know about that if you’ve been here all this time???”

 **Tweedledumb** : Well, I did go down a few times. Undercover of course. I had to try and find some info on Mewtwo, but there wasn’t much aside from urban legends.

 **Tweedledumb** : The rest of the time, Pikachu steals old newspapers from the PokeCentre for me.

“Uh-uh. So instead of interacting with actual humans you send your rat to steal newspapers from trash cans. Classy.”

Red just shrugged, as if that was completely normal behaviour.

 **Tweedledumb** : So what happened in Unova?

“Weeeell,…”

***

The storm continued all day and showed no signs of stopping. Blue had ample time to tell Red everything about his arrest and subsequent money grind, as well as answer all his questions about Unova and its league. Apparently, newspapers had done more than a few articles on all the gyms and Elite Four members Blue’d defeated. Red knew details that even he hadn’t picked up on, being too busy with getting his check to notice the grand architecture and strategies of each gym. He almost felt like he’d missed out when he swept through all the battles, but he had more than enough stories about the Pokemon, people, and culture of the region to make up with.

He told Red about the multi-use TMs they had in Unova and let him browse through them, while also explaining how Pokemarts were conveniently placed in PokeCentres to save on land. He also told him about Skyla and her family and Elesa, as well as how weird Cynthia was in real life. Red still thought she sounded awesome and made Blue promise to introduce him when the Mewtwo saga was dealt with.

Volcarona and Haxorus proudly introduced themselves, as Blue talked in detail about his Unovan team strategies. In turn, Red told him all about his training regimen and the new levels and movesets of his own team.

When Blue asked how he’d survived here this long, Red explained about his simple daily routine. He let his Pokemon hunt their own food and mostly fished and gathered berries for himself, with very rare undercover supply runs down. There were hot springs in some of the caves, where Red bathed and washed his clothes. At night, he let out Charizard or kept a small campfire for warmth. He grew his own berries somewhere along the mountain hills and used those in combination with Venasaur’s chemicals to heal more serious battle injuries.

He’d had time to go to the PokeCentre after the battle with Mewtwo (and almost gotten recognized – oh, no the horror of being a beloved icon!), so thankfully his team was fully healed right now. There was not enough space in the small Signal Cave to let everyone out at the same time, but Red still released them in small groups for Blue and Umbreon to see how much they had grown.

Soon enough both trainers left their Pokemon to mingle and sat down for a late lunch, during which Blue updated Red on all the new episodes of his favourite shows. As they ate, Red looked like he’d ascended to Gourmand Nirvana, carried on the wings of convenience-store sandwiches and processed sugar. After Blue was done laughing, he promised to send Alakazam with snacks regularly until he could come down without worrying that Mewtwo’d escape or cause trouble.

The plan they came up with was that Blue’d figure out as much as he could about the Master Ball and what could’ve gone wrong. He would also go to Bill and see if the PC could better contain Mewtwo. He’d come in ten days to report and take off the stitches.

In the meantime, Red would work on his Pokemon’s defence stats. They were all close to max level now, but their EV spreads could use some work. He’d keep Snorlax’s ball on hand out at all times and if Mewtwo came out, he would cautiously try to talk to it. If anything went wrong, Pikachu would paralyze it, Snorlax would spam Crunch, and Blue would be contacted immediately.

The typhoon was still raging by the time they got done with all the planning, so they started talking about less depressing stuff. Blue shared his plans to go to high school, which surprised Red, who kept asking if he was worried about all the kanji he’d have to memorize for the entrance exams.

Red had always sucked at writing kanji, so Blue finally took his sweet revenge by pulling out a notebook and pencil and doing an impromptu quiz on symbols they’d studied in elementary. Red’s illiteracy stopped being funny somewhere between him writing “drugs” 薬 instead of “fun” 楽 and messing up the stroke order of “human” 人 , which turned it into “entrance” 入 .

His excuse was that he could read well, so he wouldn’t need to practice writing, since everything was typed nowadays. Of course, Blue would take none of it. When dusk came, he sent Alakazam to sneak into his room back in Pallet and bring blankets and some spare clothes for Red. He also instructed him to take a dictionary and Blue’s practice books. Red might be living like a caveman, but Blue wouldn’t let him stay on the intellectual level of one.

Finally, Red begrudgingly agreed to practice 20 elementary school kanji and learn 10 junior high ones every day.

“Don’t give me the stink eye dimwit, you have nothing better to do anyway.”

 **Tweedledumb** : You’d make a great tyrant.

“It’s Dear Leader to you. Now go do your homework.”

After Red was done with his kanji for the day, he filled Blue in on all the juicy trainer gossip he’d missed while in Unova. It was the usual stuff, dating, breakups, the occasional scandal. Blue used the topic to remind him about the Nippon League Conference that was held every five years with all the living champions, Elite Four, and current gym leaders, which they’d be invited to next August. He hoped they’d be done with the Mewtwo deal by then, not that Red looked too excited about going. He loved reading about those people’s lives but the thought of mingling in a large crowd, even if full of his idols, wasn’t his cup of tea. Blue let it go for now, he’d find a way to convince him when they hopefully had the chance.

After a convenience store dinner, they played a few rounds of Red’s beloved Yuu-Min-Go with whatever decks Alakazam found in Blue’s room. He also sneaked some toothpaste and spare toothbrushes out of the house, which Daisy would probably find weird, but oh well.

They fell asleep hours past midnight, after numerous texted ghost stories and some more gossiping, this time about their old classmates. Despite the insane circumstances, it was almost like one of their usual sleepovers and Blue fell asleep feeling oddly content.

In the morning, or more like early noon (Blue’s sleep schedule was ruined once again), the typhoon had finally calmed down and only the usual amount of snowstorm greeted them outside. Blue and Haxorus carried all the stuff to Red’s living cave, which was just a bigger cave, riddled with some stray battle items and mountains of newspapers.

They had some breakfast and laid out the plan once again. Blue instructed him how to properly take care of his stitches. Soon enough, he was on his way back down, armed with the Master Ball and a thousand questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this out with the major goal of making the world of Pokemon realistic, and I'm pretty sure that when you're dealing with such powerful creatures, no amount of technological advancements and safety instructions can fully prevent accidents. I'll be exploring the idea of how human society would have evolved alongside something like Pokemon a lot more later on.  
> For now, the main struggle here was trying to convey my idea of their relationship and personalities. It's a lot easier with characters like Blue, about whom we can get down some basic traits, with enough wiggle room left to be creative. Red though, is a self-insert protagonist, so it's a lot harder from me to nail him down, but I've played the original games as an adult as well, so I can pick up on some clues and interactions that give him more of a shape in my head.  
> I would highly appreciate feedback (including negative) on how you feel about his characterization, since this is my first ever attempt at creative writing and it's a lot harder when we're not actively in the character's head.  
> Okay, very long note, sorry for the rambling and thank you for reading.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of this goes out to all my nerds who've ever tried to scientifically explain Pokemon. For everyone else, I think it should still be understandable, the terminology is just there for ppls who're curious. If you're rally into physics, you'll see some glaring holes, so please read the end note.
> 
> There's another florida man joke here, the og inspiration of which I'll leave in the end notes.

It turned out that being one of the four fucking living champions of Kanto meant nothing when you were also thirteen and demanding to speak to the engineers of a multibillion-dollar company. After the Rocket takeover, the idiots at Silph Co had reached the conclusion that  _ maybe  _ they should tighten their security, just in time to become a giant pain in Blue’s ass. 

The stiff wimps at the lobby were too busy grinding down the giant baseball bats up their rectums to even begin to believe that their precious Pokeball wouldn’t work properly, let alone consider letting him into the research division. He lost hope after the nth time in which he politely told them to fuck off with their “please call customer service for any inquiries about our products”. What took the cake was a sleazy emanation of corporate greed passing by and trying to coerce him into an advertising campaign for their new TM series.

Obviously, he wasn’t going to get far up the company ladder through a grass-roots approach, so he tried to find Mr. Fuji’s contact or at least an address of some sort, but there was nothing online.

Maybe Red had something? Blue sent a message, hoping he was near his Signal Cave.

**You:** u got mr. fuji’s number?

**Tweedledumb** : No. Sometimes he’s at the Volunteer Pokemon House in Lavender, but I don’t really know his schedule. Why? How did Silph Co go?

**You** : i get mewtwo. humans suck

**Tweedledumb** : :’(

In a last-ditch attempt, he called the stupid customer service number and hung up right after they asked him if he was sure the ball had actually made contact with the Pokemon upon capture.

He tried going to Bill’s place, but of course he couldn’t have even an ounce of luck today. Bill’s grandpa was looking after the cottage while the researcher had gone to visit family in Johto.

Overall, the trip to Saffron was a complete waste of time and Blue learned nothing. He went home exhausted, but the day wasn’t over yet. Daisy insisted that they sit down and fill out all the forms for his junior high equivalence test, the high school admission test, and the Viridian High application. She wanted to send everything in with enough time to process before all the administrators went on vacation for New Year’s.

Gramps decided to come home unusually early on that particular evening and caught sight of the two of them buried in piles of documents. He asked what this was all about and, despite Daisy’s “shut your damn mouth” face, Blue spilled that he was going to high school. They’d need his signature for most of the forms anyway.

“Oh, really? That’s good, I suppose. PE and Combat profile? It’s a respectable choice that involves a lot of battling and it would do you good. We all saw there’s room for growth.”

Of course he would assume that. His grandson couldn’t have the capacity for anything more than battling, even if he wasn’t the best at it.

“Science and Medicine actually. Probably bio concentration.”

He expected some surprise, more condescending basic explanations, maybe even respect? Blue didn’t expect gramps to look like he’d had a turd thrown at his face.

Almost a minute of pregnant silence later, the professor cleared his throat and spoke with his favourite brand of patronizing tone, riddled with some stray nervousness, as if Blue was having another mental breakdown and had just announced he was opening a circus under the family name.

“I don’t see the field of science being a good fit for you. It requires patience and discipline, as well as a lot of sacrifices. I think you’d succeed better in something less demanding.”

All the years of insults disguised as parental advice did not make this one sting less. It took a lot to stop himself from bursting out in frustration. Being a brat would only prove gramps’ point, so Blue took a deep breath and concentrated every bit of maturity he had into his words.

“Isn’t the point of education to improve ourselves? Maybe something different than what I’ve already had…arguable success in would challenge me accordingly. You said yourself, there’s room for growth.”

Gramps seemed mildly shocked that Blue could spew something other than whines, curses, and sarcasm. It wasn’t enough to convince him though.

“A Metapod doesn’t evolve into a Dragonite, no matter how hard they try. Stick to your strengths—no need to pointlessly strain yourself.”

He had no idea how to even begin to respond to that. He didn’t need to, since Daisy, who’d watched quietly up until then, suddenly spoke up in an icy tone.

“Go to your room, Blue.” She wasn’t even looking at him, her intense stare was directed solely at gramps.

Blue was frozen. Daisy never got involved in their fights. Never. 

“Now.” 

Blue felt his mouth open in protest, but the authority in her eyes stopped him dead in his tracks.

He looked at gramps, who was carefully observing the house plants in the corner like he’d rather have them as grandchildren. This day was already way too much, so he decided the upcoming fight wasn’t worth the headache. He quickly went upstairs, leaving his door open in the hopes of eavesdropping on Daisy’s eventual outburst. As rare as those were, they were always epic.

No such luck. The only things he heard were mumbled angry whispers and the front door being slammed with finality. He opened his window as well, on the off chance they’d have a showdown in the garden, but alas, they didn’t.

It was still morning in Unova, so Skyla and Elesa were probably in school. Red also must have been away from his signal cave, since Blue’s texts remained unanswered for the rest of the night. 

Sleeping was apparently not an option either. After at least an hour of staring at his dark ceiling, he got back up and booted up the computer to look for a person who could help with their Pokeball issues.

He found the address of an independent craftsman in Johto with good reviews. Pretty convenient, since Bill was also in the area. So a trip to Johto it was. He checked the weather there, just in case the typhoon was still raging. His mood significantly perked up as, when scrolling through the search engine, he found a new development in the Johto man saga. During the worst of the storm, a guy clad in boxer briefs was weaving his long hair together with the Nippon flag against the powerful winds with heavy metal blasting away in the background.

He sent the video to the group chat and after another half an hour of mindless browsing through funny clips and no signs of anyone coming back home, Blue finally felt drowsiness wash over him. He set an early alarm to avoid waking up past noon and collapsed in bed for a night of restless slumber.

***

Hitting the snooze button eight times was all it took to get one grumpy Blue Oak to get dressed and pack up. The whole house smelled of cookies and bread. It was still barely past 6, but he wasn’t surprised to see Daisy and her giant eyebags in the living room, sipping coffee from a mug the size of a salad bowl.

“Morning.”

He got a grunt in response.

“So...am I going to high school or nah?”

“Grandpa signed the documents,” she answered, without bothering to look up from her textbook.

Blue waited to see if she’d elaborate, but nothing more came. Seems that was all he was gonna get right now.

“I’m going to Johto.”

This caused a reaction. She stared at him for a few seconds but simply nodded.

“Take some cookies and bread, I made a lot.”

Yeah, no shit. The house looked like it was hosting a baking contest. A quick glance at the burnables trash bag on the kitchen counter revealed an intimidating pile of single-use coffee filters. The need for an all-nighter of baking was most likely his fault, at least to an extent, so he bit back the witty remarks and tried his best to sound uplifting. 

“Will do, thanks. Good luck at school.”

She gave him a tired smile.

“Thank you. Have a safe trip!”

Blue went to the garage and got whoever was awake into their balls. After sending Alakazam to teleport some cookies and bread up to Red, they all flew to Saffron.

The magnet train ride lasted a bit less than two hours. Goldenrod was still in its rush hour, so he quickly got out of there. Investigating the Pokeball issues was a more appealing option anyway, compared to tracking down Bill’s family in Johto like a creep.

He’d never been to Azalea Town before, but he’d eaten their famous apricorns. Kurt’s house was easy to find in the small village with all the trees peeking out from the backyard. Blue knocked on the door politely.

“I’m working! Don’t bother me!”

A little disheartened, Blue tried again. He hadn’t come all the way here for another stroke of bad luck.

“Excuse me, sir, but I’m here on an important matter. I have a Master Ball, but I think it’s defective.”

He heard shuffling from the inside and a murmured, “defective Master ball, what is this kid saying?” before the door opened and the scowling face of the old man quickly turned surprised.

“Blue Oak?! Sam’s grandson! What are you doing here?”

“You know grandpa?”

“Oh, I knew that old dog way before he was all over the radio. I take it he didn’t send you? Were you saying something about a Master Ball?”

“Yes, sir, I have one, but it doesn’t seem to be working properly. And also, I had a Pokemon of mine jump out of its ball. How would that be possible?”

“Well, come in. Pokemon jumping out is not unheard of, although it is rare. But the Master Ball not working? I doubt you have the real thing then.”

Blue went inside the house and accepted Kurt’s offer of tea. After a thorough check on his work table, the man begrudgingly admitted Red’s Master Ball was real.

“Where did you get it?”

“Oh, I found it on Victory Road.”

Kurt raised one of his large eyebrows, looking like he’d be more inclined to believe in the tooth fairy.

“Sure, whatever you say, kid. I hope you didn’t swipe it from your grandpa’s lab,” he said with a small chuckle. “Look, I take it you know how to catch a Pokemon, so I doubt you’d mess up how to use it. Did it really fail?”

“Yeah. How could that happen?”

Kurt seemed to consider his question for a bit before answering.

“Honestly, I don’t know. The Master Ball is…unique. A standard Pokeball is tuned to detect a Pokemon’s neural activity. There’s a very specific transmitter that they send out when they’ve accepted a person as their trainer. It was discovered decades ago and it became the basis for the creation of the modern Pokeball. There are varieties that encourage that acceptance. The Ultra ball calms it down by stimulating dopamine and suppressing cortisol production, the Dusk, Net and Dive balls recreate a favoured environment by stimulating certain sensory receptors, the Timer ball encourages endorphin release when it detects enough melatonin in tired Pokemon, and so on.”

Blue nodded; he’d read about some of those transmitters in the lab. Kurt seemed delighted that his audience was actually following, so he eagerly continued.

“Well, whenever the “acceptance” transmitter is first detected, the Pokeball releases its own signal that temporarily switches the electrons of the Pokemon’s body to a heavier form. If the natural signal is strong enough to reach the individual Pokemon’s acceptance threshold, a trainer bond formation signalling cascade follows that also triggers the continuous release of our artificial shrinking transmitter. Since the electrons become heavier, they’re pulled more easily to the nucleus and thus all the atoms in the body shrink and the Pokemon gets inside the ball. Humans cannot survive a switch like that, but Pokemon are basically made for it. The process is similar to how they stay in their eggs. ”

“What’s different about the Master Ball then?”

Kurt’s face quickly fell.

“The Master Ball…was an experiment. One that your father was head neurologist for, actually. My condolences—he was an amazing scientist. Such dedication is rare to find.”

Blue nodded at the courteous words. He’d had no idea his father had been a part of this. Daisy had told him stories about their parents from time to time, but they were mostly about their mom. Dad had usually been in his lab, just like gramps. He’d read a bit about the man online, but there wasn’t much information and gramps had always dodged the topic. It felt a bit strange to discover something that was probably just a fact to the people who’d known his father when he was alive, but was a new piece of his image in Blue’s mind.

He pulled himself back to the present and prompted Kurt to continue with a nod.

“Well, the Master Ball started out as just a few people wondering “what if we could shrink them even more?” It was easy to catch Pokemon, but carrying more than a few at a time got problematic after a certain number. The standard Pokeball transformed a Pokemon’s electrons into Muons, a much heavier particle. But around that time came the discovery of the Tau lepton, which had the same charge but even bigger mass. First, they needed to know whether a Pokemon’s body could even handle the change. Your father was the one who discovered the transmitter that could naturally trigger that transformation. The Master Ball prototype was created, without the usual consent mechanisms in place, just to test whether it would work.”

“I’m guessing it did?”

“It sure did. Naturally, your father’s team published the research, it was so groundbreaking. But soon people started making attempts to copy the mechanism and a few succeeded. This gave them the ability to catch Pokemon without letting them choose their trainer. It was wrong and it was chaotic, but I guess some people couldn’t resist the temptation. Governments around the world quickly outlawed the construction of such mechanisms and the research became strictly classified. Unfortunately, your parents’ accident happened just around that time, so your father couldn’t see the issue resolved.” Kurt looked melancholic for a second, but quickly added, “But it wasn’t all bad! That research later became the basis for the modern PC storage system, so it fulfilled its purpose, even if there were some obstacles.”

“So you’re saying that the Master Ball has a stronger pulling power and it doesn’t require consent?”

“Precisely. That’s why its production is so limited nowadays. It’s only given to very trustworthy trainers and it’s to be used only in exceptional circumstances.”

The ethics of the matter made sense to Blue, but he still didn’t get something.

“How could it miss then?”

“I wish I had that answer for ya, kid. With standard Pokeballs, it’s obviously normal for a Pokemon to just reject a trainer. But the Master Ball doesn’t take that into account. The only way a Pokemon could avoid being captured by it is similar to how it would escape from a normal ball. Although it would be a lot harder…”

“Yeah, I told you that one of mine escaped right? Isn’t that also impossible?”

“Not exactly. The mechanism makes it impossible for a Pokemon to move inside, but if they figure out how it works and can turn off the transmitter dispenser without having to touch it, they can technically go in and out as they please. It’s not an easy feat, for sure, but if a Pokemon is highly intelligent and has strong enough psychic powers, it can be done. I’m guessing your Alakazam was the one?”

If Alakazam could escape a standard ball, Mewtwo would surely be able to as well. Great. At least Kurt gave him the perfect lie.

“Yeah, it was him. Would he also be able to resist a Master Ball?”

“No. The Master Ball was tested on high-level Alakazams, precisely because of them being exceptions. Even they couldn’t do anything.”

But Blue wasn’t actually talking about an Alakazam. There was no smooth way he could phrase the question, so he just shot it out, hoping Kurt wouldn’t be suspicious.

“What about a legendary Pokemon? Would it be strong enough?”

Aaaand Kurt was definitely suspicious.

“Were you trying to catch a legendary?”

“Something like that…”

More giant eyebrow raising.

“Uh-huh. Sure. Well, if you were indeed trying it on a God, it probably didn’t like you enough. They have been known to choose trainers from time to time, but only if they deem them worthy.”

“Does that mean that a legendary would be able to escape?”

“Not all of them, but I’d say a large percentage. Most known legendaries have at least some extent of psychic powers. With their immense strength and intellect, I can imagine them resisting even the Master Ball if they don’t want to work with the trainer.”

Kurt was pointedly looking at Blue as he said that last part, which rang like a subdued version of gramps’ trademark condescending remarks. More insult to his already beaten up pride, but at least that was better than him figuring out they had a frenzied killer deity out and about.

“Well, say I caught the thing. If the Master Ball and PC work on the same principle, would it be able to escape the PC as well?”

“Oh, for sure. But if it allowed you to catch it, it should stay inside on its own. Legendary Pokemon are much more intelligent than us. Every time in history they’ve teamed up with a trainer, it’s always been for a cause. I doubt they’d just change their mind and leave.”

Blue nodded, even though this didn’t exactly apply to their situation. Although, from what Kurt said, Mewtwo must’ve chosen to be caught by Red. So maybe there was hope somewhere along the line. But then why would it attack? For now, all he knew was that neither the Master Ball nor the PC could safely contain it.

He finished his tea and they chatted a bit more. There was no point in bothering Bill while he was on vacation. Kurt seemed confident enough in what he’d said and besides, if there was even the slightest sliver of doubt that Mewtwo could escape, Red wouldn’t even consider the PC an option.

At least Blue got some greenhouse apricorns out of this trip.

There were new messages on his Pokegear when he headed out.

**Tweedledumb** : Your grandpa is wrong.

**Tweedledumb** : You’re the type who can succeed in anything if you really wanted to.

**Tweedledumb** : Stop being so insecure and follow your instincts.

**Tweedledumb** : And thanks for the food. It’s delicious!

**You** : np, daisy baked it. no good news, master ball and pc are both dead ends. i’ll see abt other options. be careful

**You** : and practice ur kanji i’ll quiz u

Red’s blunt form of reassurance actually lifted his mood a bit. It was still early afternoon, so he went to Ecruteak to do some historical sightseeing.

He landed on an empty road and before entering, tapped Alakazam’s ball.

“Hey, I know you can probably sense me. Can you really get out of your ball?”

He felt insane, talking to himself and waiting for a literal miracle to happen, but he had to check. Almost immediately, the Pokeball burst out in a beam of light and Alakazam was hovering above with a questioning gaze.

Blue cursed under his breath.

“How long have you been able to do this?!”

The answer was a casual shrug.

“Have you gotten out like this before?”

Fragments of an image emerged in his mind, a rock here, a head there, rolling out one after another, until a full picture, then a full scene was formed. Alakazam had sent him visions before, but he’d never get over the creepiness of a foreign memory invading his mind. Still, it was interesting to see Alakazam getting out at night and returning before Blue woke up. Some of his other Pokemon had noticed and even joined him occasionally. The more you know…

“What did you do?”

Alakazam just gave him a smirk. Blue wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Umm…thanks for not leaving me, I guess.”

He got a compilation of some of his finest, most embarrassing moments. Even he couldn’t help but snort at some of them.

“Glad my life is entertaining enough to keep you around.”

The Pokemon nodded and lifted an eyebrow, asking if that was all.

“Yeah, you can go back. Thanks for telling me the truth.”

Another nod and Alakazam was back in his ball. Blue glanced at Umbreon, who was chasing something in the tall grass.

“So you were in on this all this time?”

She mewled innocently and came back to his side, looking up with her doe eyes.

“Mhmm, playing cute now, huh?”

She smiled sweetly. Blue sighed and followed after her to Ecruteak.

They collected some stray items, went to a few museums, and had some amazing shabushabu. He got on the train back to Kanto tired, not exactly content, but with the feeling he’d done all he could for now.

***

The atmosphere in the Oak household was tense to say the least, so, for the next few days, Blue tried to get out after his morning gaming sessions. For two nights, he lurked around route 17 until he found a cute little Murkrow with Super Luck and excellent stats. After that was dealt with, boredom was hitting again, so he made another attempt to reconnect with his old classmates. Unfortunately, hormones had turned them even more obnoxious than he remembered, so that was a solid no. Leaf, the only peer other than Red who Blue found tolerable, had moved to Viridian and was apparently going to be starting high school with him. Visiting her now would mean an emotionally charged confrontation, which he preferred to avoid, even at the cost of missing out on seeing one of literally two friends he had in this country. He’d stick with Red for now.

Speaking of the devil, Delia received a message from her long-lost son, telling her that he was all right and travelling around Nippon right now. He didn’t know when he’d be back, but he hoped everyone was doing fine and was sending his best wishes.

The simple text was dry and devoid of much substance, but it was something and Red’s mom was beyond herself with happiness that her baby was alive.

Red looked happy that the message had worked and hopeful after learning that Mewtwo must’ve chosen him as a trainer. He was even more determined now to try training it, despite Blue’s protests. They decided to compromise and wait to see if it would come out on its own first.

During his next visit, Blue noticed the Living Cave was already filled with the things he’d been sending over. There were numerous bottles of vitamin supplements, as well as some stray candy and Poketreat wrappers. Red had mocked the two futon sets over text, but was already using one. It seemed even Mr. Minimalist Caveman wasn’t a fan of back pain. He was also wearing his new clothes, although without the jacket. 

Soon after his arrival, Blue carefully removed the stitches and, as promised, tested Red on the kanji he was supposed to have learned. His final score was far from perfect, but he had actually studied, so, as a reward, Blue gave him the tiny Murkrow, meant to be a good counter for Mewtwo. Red was thrilled. He’d settled on Mt. Silver before the Murkrow migration to Kanto and had never seen one before, so most of the day was spent playing with the little bird.

Blue also updated the old gossip on all the couples that had gotten together and broken up in Pallet since they’d left for their journeys. With the glaring exceptions of Blue, Red, and Leaf, almost all kids had gotten 1-2 badges and spent the rest of their year off as an extended vacation, giving them enough time to develop crushes and even start their first relationships. Red had opinions about the compatibility of all of them, but it was hard for Blue to pitch in with anything other than a few sarcastic remarks. He found romance to be a huge waste of time at their age. None of them had any real idea about what they wanted out of life yet, so they had no way of knowing if they were going to work out as a couple with someone equally inexperienced.

Red’s conclusion about the whole thing was dangled in front of Blue’s face on the Pokegear screen.

**You** : You’re such a grinch.

“Oh, blow me. You know I’m being realistic here. They’re all together just for the sake of trying out dating. What’s the point if they both know it’s not gonna last? It’s a waste of time, money, and energy.”

**You** : How is dating a waste of money?

“You think dates are free? I’d rather eat two steaks at a fancy restaurant than have to pay for some random chick. And then there’s shit like Valentine’s and Christmas and birthdays, where you gotta buy them gifts. No thanks—I’d rather keep my money.”

It took Red a while to calm down from his fit of silent laughter.

**You** : Such a romantic.

**You** : Bet your first date’s going to be gathering items.

“Not a bad idea, honestly. At least it’s productive. And since when do you care so much about dating?”

**You** : How much entertainment do you think I get here? Let me live.

“How dare you?! The biography of Francis Noir and  _ Molecular Basis of the Gene _ are plenty entertaining to everyone who’s not a complete simpleton.”

Red rolled his eyes and huffed sarcastically, looking at the large books that were collecting dust at the far end of the cave.

“Fine, I’ll only send you cheesy shoujo manga from now on.”

He did send a few questionable titles as a joke later, along with the new editions of Red’s favourites,  _ Detective Shanon _ ,  _ Seeker x Chaser _ , and of course  _ Yuu-Min-Go _ .

***

When New Year’s Eve came, gramps was nowhere to be found, so Blue and Daisy went for a short temple visit together and had some department store osechi in the morning. After that, she went back to studying and Blue went back to “training” on “Victory Road”.

He got some of the leftovers for Red and nervously watched as his rival ate. Red probably noticed his staring, since he paused for a second and gave Blue a questioning gaze.

“You know how in Unova they have this thing with New Year’s resolutions?”

Red nodded.

It was now or never. 

“Well, we don’t know how long it’s gonna be until we solve the Mewtwo thing and you refuse to let me watch over it instead…” Red rapidly shook his head. He’d been adamant on not letting Blue guard the tiny Pokeball alone, even for a few hours. “So, we don’t know when you’ll be able to get help for your speaking.” Red immediately glanced away. “Look, I know you don’t like to think about it, but you’ll have to. We’re gonna be done with this at some point and then you’ll have to come back down. And since you refuse to go to therapy now,” he pulled out the two copies of  _ A Beginner’s Guide to Global Sign Language _ , “you might as well start learning how to communicate.”

Red’s face went through several expressions rapidly. Surprise, offense, anger, confusion. He took his Pokegear.

**You** : I’m not deaf. And I can already communicate.

“Fuck’s sake I know you’re not deaf. But you know you can’t keep texting forever, especially when you get down. Just…think about it. I’ll study with you.” He held up the second copy.

**You** : What if they cure it? It’s going to be a waste of time.

“Languages are never a waste of time. And I hope they cure it, but I want you to have reasonable expectations. It might take a while. Medicines didn’t work, Healing Wish didn’t work, and if there were surgical options, they would’ve told you then and there.”

He felt like a massive asshole laying things out like that. Red was looking at the ground avoiding his eyes. He’d pushed too far.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s just—”

The Pokegear was back in his face.

**You** : Let’s stop talking about it. I’ll consider it.

Painful silence sucked out the air around them and crawled underneath Blue’s skin.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Red looked up startled and shook his head almost on instinct. His eyes wandered to the few exam practice books Blue’d brought for himself.

“Are you sending me into time out?”

Red huffed in amusement and got up. He picked up Mewtwo’s ball and a few other things from around the cave and came back with a typed message.

**You** : I’ll go train Murkrow. Study for your exams.

Just like that, he was off.

Blue let out a deep sigh. Cleaning up the stray wrappers and organizing all the newspapers was a good distraction. When he came back to the two GSL books, he put one in his own backpack and hid the other one between Noir’s biography and  _ Molecular Basis of the Gene _ . It was easy to find if Red decided to give it a go, but still stayed out of his face.

There wasn’t much to clean, so Blue did get to studying at some point. He was pretty confident about his knowledge, but it wouldn’t hurt to know the format of the exam. The questions were laughably easy, though, so he got bored quickly and picked up a few towels for a soak in the Bathhouse Cave. The water in the small hotspring was a nice contrast to the chilling air around and considerably lifted his mood.

When he got back, Red was grilling some fish on a small fire. He wordlessly handed one to Blue.

“Not bad. Where’d you get the salt?”

He looked over to Venusaur, who was eating berries and chatting with Pidgeot and Serperior.

“She makes it for you?!”

Red nodded, glancing at his Pokemon with a grateful smile.

“Damn, that’s cool. Poison types sure are convenient when you’re living away from civilization.”

Red let out one of his amused huffs. They made some more small talk, which gradually turned less awkward. He asked if PokeCentres really had free wifi now and about the phones that easily connected to it. He also asked if Blue had gotten the new Jintendo console and what games were made for it.

Blue ended up spending a few days up there, training, studying, and talking about random stuff. It was a nice break from his own home, where gramps was still acting weird and Daisy was a ball of anxiety about her upcoming exams.

He had to come back, though. He braced himself for the tense atmosphere, but nothing could prepare him for the gigantic Dragonites in the yard playing with Haxorus. He quickly went inside, where he was greeted with one of the most bizarre scenes he’d ever seen.

Lance, a man almost the size of his own Dragonites, was squished into an unlucky armchair that could barely contain him and his cape. Pinky up, he took a sip from a teacup, his large hands making it look like a toy from Daisy’s old tea party set. His…unique style looked so out of place in a normal setting that Blue couldn’t help but burst out laughing as he took in the whole picture.

His vocal amusement alerted the dragon fanatic, who carefully set the tiny cup down and wiggled out of his seat to greet Blue.

“Long time no see! I had some business with your grandpa and wanted to pay you a visit as well. Your sister said you’d be coming back today and let me wait for you here.”

Blue nodded curtly, but he already knew what this was about.

“I’m not joining the League.”

Lance’s face suddenly looked pleading, the composed façade already falling apart.

“Just hear me out before you say no.”

Blue rolled his eyes. He’d never considered the offer—it seemed like a sad excuse to keep battling after losing the position of Champion. He couldn’t really say that to Lance, though, so he let him continue.

“The League is in decline. Most people don’t take battling seriously anymore. They think it’s just TV entertainment. Your and Red’s story gave us some momentum, but if we don’t capitalize on it quickly, we’ll lose it. We need a Leader for Viridian. We need kids to think they have a shot at the Elite Four, but we can’t do that if there’s no eighth badge.”

“Mhmm. So, you’re trying to guilt trip me into joining.”

Lance sighed dejectedly.

“I’m sorry, I realize that I’ve been a bit…persistent, but we’re getting desperate. Last season was a disaster. There was no way to even get to the Indigo Plateau and people knew that, so a lot of Kanto kids didn’t even start a journey. I begged everyone who’s even remotely qualified, but we still can’t find a last gym leader...”

“Gee, don’t flatter me or anything. What am I, last in line of the “remotely qualified”?”

Lance rubbed his forehead melodramatically.

“Blue, I’ll make you Champion if that’s what you want. You’re the best option we have. Seeing an accomplished trainer close to their age joining the League will make kids want to reach the top and battle you. We can revive competitive battling!”

“You already have Misty and that Poison girl here, and the Bug trainer in Johto looks like a newborn.”

“Yes, but you’re the famous one!” Lance sighed again and tried to collect himself. “People know you, so they’ll want to battle you.”

“Look, I’m sorry it’s tough for the League, but I’m starting high school soon. I won’t have time to battle all the newbies who come out of gramps’ lab.”

“You’ll be studying in Viridian right? The gym is close to your school! And you don’t need to battle the new trainers—we can make you the last gym! There won’t be that many challengers and they’ll all be advanced. Kids will have to aim high to get to you!”

Lance looked so excited that Blue almost didn’t want to burst his bubble. The location sure was convenient, though. If he gave out the last badge, it really wouldn’t be that bothersome. And he’d be able to restart the battling club at school…but it still sounded like a lot of work.

“I…don’t know…it’s a big responsibility…”

“It is. That’s why we pay well,” Lance said with a smirk. “Why don’t you look at the official job offer first?”

This caught Blue’s attention and he sat down to skim the contract. His eyes were immediately drawn to the large sum at the bottom. It was almost as much as the fine he had to pay in Unova.

“Is this what I’ll be making yearly?”

Lance laughed at his bewilderment.

“Monthly,” he answered with a smug voice. “The League is old money. A lot of Gym Leaders do interviews and brand deals on the side, which pay even better.”

Damn. And people said it wasn’t a real job.

Lance glanced at his fancy watch.

“I need to be getting back, but I’ll leave this here and let you consider it and discuss with your family. Call or text if you have any questions. Oh, and by the way, that Haxorus of yours is a beauty!”

Blue nodded absent-mindedly, already calculating in his head.

He was still reading the contract when Daisy came out of her room for more coffee. After being briefed, she took a look as well.

“Pretty good. It’s not too strictly binding and gives you a lot of wiggle room. Money isn’t bad either. Are you going to consider it?”

Blue groaned. His brain was too tired from all the legal terminology to answer right now.

“I don’t know…it’s not a bad offer, but isn’t it pathetic to settle for gym leader if I couldn’t stay Champion?”

Daisy rolled her eyes.

“Which part exactly? Being one of the country’s biggest celebrities, or making three times the average salary? If you really think it’s pathetic, fine, but if that’s about public opinion again, please get out of your head. No one cares that much.”

“Damn, alright. You’re so pissy these days.”

Her face softened a bit and she sighed.

“Sorry, my head is about to explode. Studying is what I’d be more worried about. High school is intense. I know you’re smart, but I’m afraid you might get overwhelmed.”

Blue considered that as well.

“There is a trial period of six months, in which I can leave freely. After that, I’ll just have to find a substitute. And it does say that I don’t have to accept people every day, just the minimum of being open 30 hours per week…I don’t know. I’m not that worried about the studying, honestly, I just don’t know if I’ll feel like battling cocky trainers all the time.”

“You mean brats like you?” Daisy asked teasingly. He made a face in return.

“The other issue is all the restrictions on my team and strategies. Shit is so annoying.”

“Well, you can’t expect them to let you use overleveled Pokemon and spam items. Nobody’d stand a chance.”

“Yeah, but that’s what some challengers do. If they buy a bunch of Revives, how is that fair to me?”

“It’s not about being fair to the gym leaders. It’s about them teaching trainers through experience…I don’t know, Blue, it’s your decision.” She yawned just as her coffee was done. “I need to go back to studying. Take your time and think about it. Not many people get opportunities like that when they’re so young.”

He nodded and took the contract to his room to examine some more. He sent it to Red and got it back with some parts circled and questions scribbled in his horrific handwriting. They had a discussion about it over text. Red thought it sounded awesome. Getting to battle professionally was literally a dream job. The money was a nice bonus too. Skyla and Elesa shared his opinion. They all said they’d at least try it out if they were in his place.

Blue honestly didn’t know what his problem was. The loss two years ago seemed pretty irrelevant already. Of course, his image was nowhere near Red’s legendary status, but he was also well regarded for bringing some national pride from the Unova Championship. Although, many people still thought he was a privileged brat who was only good at battling because he was brought up rich and trained from a young age. As if gramps had ever had that much time for him. Others pulled up his family’s sob story and painted him as some sort of tragic hero. He wasn’t sure which version he disliked more.

Red told him the same stuff as Daisy: that people will always have an opinion, so he shouldn’t care. Elesa said the same, though in a much more thoughtful way, and Skyla thought getting out of his comfort zone was exactly what he needed. Blue agreed, rationally, but there was still some annoying desire to be well-liked gnawing at his subconscious, making him cringe at himself. He couldn’t care less about what people he didn’t know thought of him, but for some reason the prospect of the public judging his every move was always at the back of his head, essentially turning him into a pitiful coward.

He finally decided to accept the League’s offer and try it out, out of spite for himself more than anything.

Red was really excited and wanted to help with everything from selecting and training a new team, to deciding what the interior of the gym should be like. Blue asked Lance if he was required to choose a type to specialize in. It was strongly recommended, but it wasn’t technically mandatory. The only actual restriction was that the Pokemon had to be found in Kanto. He followed a few days later with the suggestion for Blue to play the nostalgia card and include some from the iconic team he’d become Champion with. It seemed kinda dumb, they obviously wouldn’t be the same Pokemon, but Lance sounded so eager, he didn’t have the heart to reject his ideas. It was also convenient, since he’d mostly be working with Pokemon he knew the strengths of.

Pidgeot, Rhydon, Exeggutor, and Arcanine volunteered to breed. Blue caught a good IV Ditto and left his Pokemon one by one in the Day Care, trying not to think about what was going on in there. His old team already had good stats and so did the Ditto, so it didn’t take many eggs for two sets of Pokemon with good IVs and suitable natures to come out. Blue selected the final team members and gave the rest to gramps to hand out as starters. For the last two slots, he bred Machops and Magikarps for some good type coverage. Red’s only criticism was that there were way too many physical attackers. Blue explained it was sort of like a specialty, to see if trainers would realize and come up with good counterstrategies.

He and Lance agreed to officially open the gym a week after his first day of high school, which gave him a little more than three months to prepare. The gym team had to be pretty high level to give out the eighth badge and he also needed to raise another, less overlevelled than his own, advanced team on the off-chance a challenger who’d defeated the Elite Four came by. Thus, Blue ended up spending most of his time on Mt. Silver (Victory Road, if anyone asked) training with Red. He preferred to train in organic battles, but it was a lot easier to use Red’s and his own teams to give the new guys experience faster. The deserted hills were easily the most suitable training ground, since he could freely coach everyone at once without having to fear life in prison for keeping more than 20 active Pokeballs.

He went down only to take his exams, which were a breeze, and celebrate Daisy’s birthday and acceptance letter from the University of Saffron’s School of Medicine. Occasionally, he’d send Alakazam on food, manga, and newspaper runs. Pikachu was the happiest from this new development. For some reason the pest thought she didn’t deserve to suffer through dumpster diving, even if, in Blue’s opinion, the trash was her rightful place.

He and Red quickly settled into a routine. Breakfast, training, lunch, more training, studying, dinner, manga or games on their JintendoSD consoles (bought to celebrate Blue’s first check as a gym leader), and finally—a relaxing bath.

That last part turned out a bit weird. They’d had to bathe together during so many sleepovers, since before he could even remember, but now it was kind of awkward. He’d never been particularly proud or embarrassed of his own body, or paid Red’s too much attention, but maybe the hormones were getting to him as well. It’d be different if they were in an actual onsen with other people, but it being just the two of them made it weird. He’d even caught himself blushing a few times, though that was probably just the weather getting warmer. The evening hailstorms seemed a bit milder. He tried soaking early in the morning when the air was still chilled. It seemed to work, so he stuck with it for the upcoming months.

He found himself truly enjoying his time on the freezing hills. It was calm and the scenery was beautiful. They’d often eat dinner outside, watching the sunset and having every kind of conversation possible, from fashion trends among gym leaders to debating the most necessary political reforms Nippon needed.

There were a few instances in which he started to doubt if he’d manage to finish training the teams on time, if his teams were even good enough, if he should drop this experimental shit and just choose a type to specialize in, if he should’ve even agreed to this whole charade.

In those moments he remembered how good Red was at handling Blue’s mood swings. He always managed to distinguish whether Blue was actually upset or just had his knickers in a twist. Ever since they were kids, he’d be able to effortlessly deduce what Blue needed, be it a reality check, small uplifting gestures of support, or just to be ignored until his pissy mood passed. Even Daisy wasn’t as well tuned to his capricious temper.

Sometimes he felt like a whiny child pacified by their patient mentor. But then Red would do shit like make Haxorus give him a haircut with his axes (Blue almost had a heart attack walking in on that one), somehow burn a sushi set, secretly eat all the snacks and then feign ignorance, and ask where Pokemon eggs come from. Blue completely refused to have that conversation. He even sent Alakazam home for one of his physiology textbooks, before realizing the little cunt was fucking with him.

Overall, though, he was having a blast, even if he was still crunching a challenging task in an impossibly short amount of time. He’d immensely appreciated his Pokemon and his friends’ help in Unova, but it was different to have the company of someone who knew every aspect of his personality and somehow clicked so well with him, despite both of them being comically dysfunctional individuals. Blue ended up spending a lot of his nights reflecting on his relationship with Red and wondering if they would’ve ever rebuilt their friendship if it wasn’t for a chance meeting in no man’s land.

***

His pondering had to switch to a completely different direction when one fateful morning upon returning from his bath, he saw a blurred flash come out of the cave. He ran inside to find Red frozen in place and all their Pokemon in varying degrees of distress. He immediately glanced towards the corner where Red always put Mewtwo’s ball whenever he wasn’t carrying it. Open. Wide open.

Trying to stop Red from running after the thing was like holding a raging Taurus by its tail. Red’s own Pokemon had to intervene and physically block the entrance until Blue managed to calm him down. No one seemed physically hurt, so Blue got him to focus and explain exactly what happened. 

**You** : It just jumped out. It looked around and then ran off. It was moving so fast it could be anywhere by now we can’t just sit here. 

“You think we’re gonna outrun it? Calm down. We need to know what we’re working with. I think I also saw it. It didn’t teleport right?”

**You** : No. But it moved too fast to see where it was going.

“Did it attack?”

**You** : Not directly. I got these visions again. I think the Pokemon got them as well.

“Visions?”

**You** : It sent them when we were trying to capture it. That’s why we failed the first time.

“You never told me about that?! What was in them?”

**You** : I think its time in the labs. Really disturbing.

“For crying out loud, you could’ve fucking mentioned that!”

**You** : We got used to them the second time. It caught me off guard now. This is my fault I should’ve been more alert we have to capture it again!

“Okay, okay. We’ll try. But if this turns violent, I’m fainting it and then I’m dragging you out of here. Alakazam, can you sense anything?”

The Pokemon concentrated. It took him awhile but he opened his eyes and nodded.

“Can you lead us to it?”

He concentrated again, but this time shook his head disappointed.

“Fuck. Do you think it’s still on the mountain?”

Alakazam immediately nodded, which sent Red right back on his feet to collect the team. Blue did the same. They brought all their Pokeballs, too afraid to leave anyone there.

Logically, they could’ve covered more ground if they split up, but neither of them even considered it, too scared to let the other one roam alone. None of their experienced flyers had psychic resistance and Murkrow was still too young, so they decided to walk and try to find some sort of trail. Red said it hovered, so instead of footsteps, they looked for fallen leaves, crushed branches, and displaced stones in caves.

They didn’t get too far. After less than half an hour Alakazam, who’d been hovering protectively over their heads suddenly disappeared and immediately came back sending them a vision of the living cave. Mewtwo’s Pokeball was closed again, surrounded by glass shards and candy wrappers. Right next to it was a broken vending machine.

Blue immediately took out Pidgeot.

“Alakazam, Umbreon, stay with Red. Pikachu, shock him if he tries to go back alone.” The rodent nodded, for once completely in agreement with Blue.

He immediately flew to the PokeCentre at the bottom of the mountain. A nurse was standing outside, speaking rapidly on her phone. He landed next to her, just as the conversation was over. Blue composed himself, leaving only an acceptable amount of alarm to show.

“Is everything alright? I was training in the caves and heard a weird noise…”

Recognition and relief lit up her face.

“Champion Blue! The PokeCentre was robbed! I don’t know what happened! I went to the back room for just a minute and heard glass breaking. I came back immediately and saw the door broken and the vending machine was gone!” she exclaimed through erratic breaths.

“Calm down, everything’s all right. You’re not hurt, right? And you called the police?” He did his best to sound calming, hoping his own distress was staying in check.

She nodded, still shaking a bit.

“It’s okay, I’ll wait here with you until they arrive. Did you see anyone?”

“I-It happened so fast. I couldn’t see anything.”

“Are any Pokemon hurt?”

“Oh, we don’t have many trainers passing here. It was just my Chansey and she was with me in the back room. Oh, my poor baby has such sensitive ears, I think all that noise gave her a migraine.”

The chubby pink Pokemon looked like she was in pain and Blue wondered if she’d also received the visions. He carefully approached and gave her a few calming pets. Pidgeot went to talk to her, hopefully convincing her that she was just in shock.

Mt. Silver was on the border with Johto, so officers from both regions came to investigate. He heard a few of them complaining in Johto-ben about the recent spike in criminal activity, so a new organization was their main suspect. Blue was also questioned, but did his best to sound truthful and prayed they wouldn’t check his backpack and find the illegal active Pokeballs. He didn’t look like he was hiding a vending machine down his pants, so they quickly checked the entrance cave of Mt. Silver and let him go after he signed a witness statement and a few autographs for their kids.

He took a detour to where he’d left Red and thankfully found him in the same spot, grumpy and surrounded by a few electrical burn marks on the ground, but overall okay.

“It stole the vending machine from the PokeCentre below.”

Red was already prepared with a text.

**You** : I told you I wasn’t eating all those snacks!

“Yeah, sorry it didn’t immediately cross my mind that our lethal lab Rattata had a sweet tooth!”

Red huffed, annoyed, and looked away.

“Oh, grow up! We have bigger issues.”

**You** : Was anyone hurt?

“No, thank God! Stole the machine and left the scene.”

**You** : If it’s not violent I think we can go back.

“You call ripping a vending machine out and somehow carrying it up a mountain “not violent”?”

**You** : It’s progress. It was just hungry. Probably has a faster metabolism than others, even in the ball. At least we know what it wants now.

“So, what? We fill the cave with chocolate and leave it there?”

Red shook his head.

**You** : Someone still has to watch it. But I don’t think it means harm, I think it’s just acting on instinct.

“No, no, no, don’t come up with excuses for it!”

**You** : I’m not! But there were people in the centre and it didn’t do anything to them. And it saw all of us in the cave, probably has been seeing us for months, yet it didn’t hurt us. It only came out when you started your “sugar ban”.

“Oh, what, so it’s my fault cuz I didn’t want you to get diabetes?!”

Red sighed and pointedly looked at Blue, willing him to be rational.

“Okay, fine. I know you’re not gonna come back down, so I’ll save my energy. Let’s go back. But you have to promise me you won’t try to train it the moment I leave. Just send me a text and I’ll send Alakazam over. Just for my peace of mind.”

Red nodded and even typed out his promise. Blue was inclined to trust him on this one.

They went back to the living cave and slowly collected all the glass and trash around the Pokeball, careful not to touch it. They even went as far as building an altar of sugary snacks around it. The vending machine was still criminal evidence and was too bulky to dispose of anyway, so they removed all the springs from the inside and turned it into something like a book and manga stand.

While organising, Red found the GLS book and stared at it for a long time. Blue gave him as much space as he could, busying himself with sorting all the manga issues. Just as he was starting with  _ Seeker x Chaser _ , he got a tap on the shoulder. Red was holding the Pokegear up high, staring at the floor.

**You** : I’ll start studying it. Today.

Blue almost squealed in excitement, but tried to control himself. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake of putting too much pressure again.

“Are you sure?” he asked in the calmest voice he could muster.

Red looked him in the eyes and nodded, slightly nervous, but filled with determination.

**You** : Do you still want to study with me?

“Ehm…actually, I kinda finished the book already…”

Did that count as putting too much pressure? He couldn’t judge whether Red’s surprise was the good or bad kind.

**You** : When?!?!?! We’ve been together 24/7 for the past three months.

“Well, I did take a week to decide on the League offer and then another one to breed the team…and you take really long baths,” he mumbled, starting to feel a bit guilty.

**You** : Why?

“I don’t know, I was kinda hoping you were gonna consider it eventually and I wanted to help and started reading and it’s actually super interesting. Like, it’s a whole-ass language with its own grammar and a really rich vocabulary and you do that just with your hands. It’s really cool!”

Red kept staring with his bug eyes, making Blue’s anxiety boil up. Finally, small huffs started coming through and gradually grew into his rival’s full-on inaudible laughter. When he calmed down, Red looked at him again and this time Blue could clearly see warmth radiating through the leftover traces of amusement. 

**You** : You’re such a nerd.

Blue immediately frowned.

“Oi, just cuz I’m friends with an unsophisticated dunderhead like you doesn’t mean that I also have to keep my brain atrophied.”

**You** : Wow, dunderhead is a new one! I think I still prefer waste of a cuntpuddle though. How do you say that in sign language?

Blue rolled his eyes and gave him the finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Florida man vs hurricane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDwpM5JkGts
> 
> I know there's a looot of different sign languages, but imagine the Pokemon universe people are smarter than us and came up with a universal version.
> 
> Physics note: writing this thing at 3 am was not a great idea. The particle physics I used here would be rly impractical, bc it would increase (some) Pokemon's already large mass and make the Pokeballs super dense and impossible to carry. I might address it later, bc I do have some ideas that might circumvent those issues, but it'd be a bitch to explain. For now, please quack it down to Pokemon are magic.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Context notes:  
> -The Japanese school year starts at the beginning of April for schools and early to mid April for unis. The spring semester ends late July/early August.  
> -Golden Week in Japan is when a lot of national holidays line up and you usually end up with a 1 week + 2 weekends vacation.  
> -In earlier times, the main patron of a geisha was called a danna. The word patron is still widely used today for host club regulars or wealthy adults who financially support struggling (and usually pretty) younger people.

**Omail**

Main: 142 Unread

 **elite4_official@indigoleague.kt.jht.np** : The Nippon Times photoshoot is ready for release. Great job on the interviews!

 **lrn-heighton@coldmail.moc** : Congratulations, Blue! Aerodactyl woke up the whole town when she saw you on TV, haha. Good luck with high school too! We’re all so proud of you!

 **preston_misaki@omail.moc** : Double champ, now last gym leader? Eustace wants to name our firstborn after you.

**Messages: 56 New**

**Goth Socrates** : Congrats! Can’t wait to see your team :) Let me know if you need any HMs.

 **Sis** : Did you have to wear the t-shirt with that Kalosian curse word? Still, you looked adorable! Did they put makeup on you? We haven’t even started and all my classmates want autographs. Have a pen ready when I come back for Golden Week!

 **Tweedledumb** : Did you remember to trim Exeggutor’s leaves for the billboard pictures? 

**Svype(83)**

**birdbrain** : he was sooooo cocky how is he a real person

 **Thor_tianna** : ye but his roasts sounded so polite in nihongo?! it’s kinda freaky 

**birdbrain** : the memes r gonna be pure gold

 **Thor_tianna** : omg have you seen the fanart

 **Thor_tianna** : butlercafeblueoak.jmeg, blue-red-battleoftitans.jmeg, bluepuresmileflowercrown.jmeg, aged_blue_oak_nsfw.jmeg

 **birdbrain** : brb gotta bleach my eyeballs

***

The two weeks before the start of high school were pure chaos. First came Daisy’s move to Saffron. She’d already picked an apartment and done most of the essential furnishing. Blue’s role was helping with the luggage transport and shopping for décor that fit his sister’s ~aesthetic~. 

Just as he got back to Pallet, all the interviews started airing. Lance’s strategy was a short but effective advertising campaign that would send any trainers with seven badges running straight to Viridian before the dreaded summer heat. For his part, Blue let his dashing personality carry him through, only slightly tensing up when he had to dodge the Red questions. 

The photo shoots were a nice break from having to use his brain too much. Conveying a feeling just by posing and making facial expressions was kind of fun, even if the director’s instructions were downright incomprehensible sometimes (a longingly imposing gaze? what?).

His hectic schedule forced him to let Alakazam and Red organise their own supply runs, since Mewtwo was consuming its stacks of sugar alarmingly fast. It never came out when summoned, although it wasn’t shy about jumping out when everyone was awake either. Alakazam sent him a vision of the purplish lizard hovering around, completely ignoring everyone and inhaling KitKats like there was no tomorrow, just to get back in its ball after its daily dose of diabetes. There was no sign of the painful flashbacks, but Blue still wasn’t happy leaving Red alone with the thing. What kept Blue from dropping everything and climbing back up there was his rival’s promise to give daily updates, both in the mornings and evenings, as well as report every minor change in Mewtwo’s behaviour. 

Of course, Red had never been one to bother with pleasantries, so he couldn’t just check in with a “good morning” or “good night” like a normal person. 

**Tweedledumb** : I’m alive.

 **Tweedledumb** : Or am I? 

**Tweedledumb** : Last week a Johto man stole 400,000 worth in French fries.

 **Tweedledumb** : Shoujo manga isn’t that bad actually.

 **Tweedledumb** : I-I-I-I’m stayin’alive, stayin’alive

 **Tweedledumb** : My favourite candidate in the Galarian elections dropped out :’( 

**Tweedledumb** : There are way more dead people and Pokemon than living ones. Then why aren’t ghost Pokemon the most common type? Or can we just not see them?

 **Tweedledumb** : Your left ear is more photogenic than your right.

Red woke up late, or at least late enough that Blue was already too consumed by responsibilities to respond immediately, but they established sort of a routine for dinner. Blue would crawl back home exhausted and Red would go to his signal cave with his team and Mewtwo’s ball. A reheated meal teleport later, they’d eat together while texting about the new random thing Red was mulling over. It made the emptiness of the house less haunting and gave him something to do before he had to go to bed, nowadays too early to even attempt a gaming session with the girls. If gramps noticed how fast the meals Daisy left in the freezer were dwindling, he didn’t say anything. 

He spent the night before his first day of school talking his sister out of coming to send him off. At least gramps didn’t take any convincing—he hadn’t even offered in the few times Blue had seen him over the last few weeks. It was honestly a blessing in disguise, saving them both the awkwardness of having to talk without Daisy as a mediator. 

***

Landing on Pidgeot right next to the school was definitely a mistake. Blue could deal with attention, but he was not a fan of being observed like a Mew that had chosen Viridian High’s campus for its reappearance. He also hated having to keep Umbreon in her ball, but the ”no Pokemon except for designated areas” rule was the most strictly enforced one after general obedience of the law. 

The entrance ceremonies were the usual “you’re the country’s future” crap, so he spent them fending off Skyla and Elesa from bullying him into making social media accounts. Defending one’s choice to keep at least a semblance of privacy was hard work against those two nutjobs, whose latest idea of success amounted to how many likes the cute pics of their Pokemon amassed. Deeply engrossed in the debate, he almost dropped his Pokegear after bumping into another student, firmly blocking his way to the orientation class. 

“The hell is your pro—” A pair of familiar dark eyes was glaring daggers straight into his soul, causing him to choke on the storm of curses he’d prepared. “Leaf!”

She sized him up with a cold smirk. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t everyone’s favourite world wanderer. How’s it going, superstar? Too busy for your old mates?”

Shit. He should’ve gone to visit her. But then again, “Hey, you know where I live. Why didn’t _you_ come around?”

Ah, the raised left eyebrow. A classic omen of impending doom. He had to give it to her, she’d absolutely mastered the look. It was even more petrifying to be on the receiving end than he’d remembered. “I _did_ come. You were training.” Blue’s puzzled expression must’ve seemed genuine enough for her to elaborate. “About a month ago. Tried to call but it wasn’t connecting. No one in the house either, so I left a message with the old sport in the lab.”

The fear was gone, swiftly replaced with annoyance. “So you thought he’d remember to tell me? Didn’t you used to crap on and on about how smart you were?”

The glare was back in all its might. “Hey, what was I supposed to do? You weren’t there and your phone was dead. I’d thrown out the olive branch, so it was your turn, asshole!” 

A loud humph combined with a stubborn pout completely broke the steely facade she’d been trying to keep. Before his survival instincts had a chance to kick in, Blue let out a tiny snort. The murder in her eyes only served to fuel his amusement, until he was full on choking on his own giggles. Leaf was desperately trying to cling on to her glare, but soon enough an annoyed eye roll, and a not-so-light punch to his arm told him they were good. 

After calming down from his fit, he straightened up. “Sorry. I should’ve texted you at least. I was in a weird place when I came back and then a lot of stuff started happening.” 

She sized him up again. It was a shit apology, left purposefully vague to make her think he was only referring to becoming a Gym Leader, but she knew him well enough to sense the sincerity. “Fine. You’re off my murder list. For now.”

“Much appreciated. Come on, we gotta go. The future valedictorians can’t be late on their first day.”

“True. You chose science, right?”

“Yup. What do young aspiring lawyers choose these days?”

“Arceus, you’re clueless. Law means humanities, duh. Which I did choose, but I’ll take econ electives and apply to a business program for uni.”

“Wait what? Seriously? What happened to Pokemon rights law?”

“Meh, the money is shit and I’ll be able to help Pokemon a lot more if I’m a rich business tycoon with enough pull to liquidate exploitative corporations piece by piece.” Her smile was now sweeter than honey, but those cold, calculating eyes wouldn’t fool anyone. After making plans to properly catch up later, both headed to their profile orientations. 

It was mostly an expanded reprise of the stuff from the brochures. All the students had to take some basic courses outside their field, to make them “well rounded” individuals, but the vague prospect of long-term gratification didn’t make all the writing in the history, literature, and social studies course descriptions any less intimidating. 

His profile had advanced math, biology, physics, and chemistry, in addition to which he had to either have PE three times a week after school or join a sports club within the next month. On top of it all, they had to take kanji classes and choose a foreign language. He’d seriously debated making his life easier and signing up for Galarian, but the temptation of finally having Kalosian as an option was too strong. 

After thoroughly examining his schedule, Blue took the time to look around and assess his classmates. Although in the science profile, very few of them looked stereotypically nerdy. The school topped charts in the prefecture, so a lot of them gave off a wealthy vibe even in their uniforms. They were split between pointedly ignoring Blue’s presence and blatantly staring, some with contempt, others with cautious interest, but most with slight fear mixed with awe. 

After class was officially dismissed, a few brave souls timidly asked for an autograph. When he didn’t challenge them to a death match or whatever they were thinking, more requests to sign notebooks and take pictures came. Some even tried starting up small talk, but he politely excused himself with pressing gym leader duties…

…Aka watching Lance squirm.

“We’ve barely decorated, your advanced team is the same level as your normal one, and the only employees we have are you and an accountant!”

“At least we’ve got wifi. That’s gonna bring in people…”

“Hotspot leeches, not challengers! What was I thinking? We’re so understaffed, we should’ve opened for the autumn season! This is a disaster!”

“Tsk, we don’t need extra trainers when you have me. I’m the famous one, remember?”

“Which is another problem. You’re famous for beating me! Who’s going to watch an exhibition match that already happened two years ago?”

“Why don’t you get someone from another region?”

“You’re an ex-champion, battling any gym leaders would be obsolete.” 

“You could get another champion…”

“How much money do you think we have left? Champions and Elite Fours are expensive.”

Blue looked around the bare-bones building. A reception desk couldn’t be that costly. 

“I thought the League was “old money”. Did our whole budget go to our seven decorative rocks?”

Lance halted his pacing and crossed his arms defensively.

“We needed proper advertising, okay. We can’t go overboard with the expenses for a new gym. Spend a few years here, make some revenue, and the League will shower you in all the Champions you want. For now, maybe we should get more rocks. Seriously, do we need more? I’ll go get some!”

Blue couldn’t contain his laughter anymore as the man-child in front of him had switched from pouting to anxiously chewing his lip and looking like a mutant Rattata with a bad dye job. 

“I think we have enough rocks. If you’re really that nervous just pull some strings. Don’t you have anything on the other champs?”

“They have more on me from all those NLC afterparties,” he said, staring at his shoes for a bit too long before puffing out in frustration. “I tried to get in contact with that girl who caught Rayquaza for a wunderkind showdown, but she’s off the grid. Most of the older ones won’t even smile without a paycheck these days and the rest are…eccentric. I don’t even know what I’ll have to do to get them here.”

Before Blue could even begin to wonder who’d be weird enough to shock someone with a cape collection, an idea popped up in his head.

“What about Cynthia? She’s also a weirdo, but she’s cool. I think she’d be down if she hasn’t started uni yet.”

Lance’s eyes lit up.

“Yes! I forgot you’re friends with her! She’s an established champion! We might even get trainers from Sinnoh!”

Blue sent a simple text to Cynthia, asking if she was free this weekend. Thankfully, the response came mere minutes later, before Lance had dissolved into a puddle of anxiety. 

**Goth Socrates** : I am. Do you want me to come for moral support?

 **You** : Yeah, but mainly for publicity. Lance thinks his exhibition match will suck and wants me to battle you.

“Don’t make us seem so desperate,” Lance squealed.

“Shut up, you are desperate.”

“Tell her we’ll pay transport and accommodation.”

 **You** : He’ll pay your flight and hotel. No money for a match tho, he blew it all on ads.

 **Goth Socrates** : So that’s why you’re everywhere these days.

 **Goth Socrates** : I don’t mind helping out, I like our matches. Which team should I take?

“Should we show off the new guys? They barely have any real experience...”

“Both of you use your advanced teams, people rarely get to see them. Oh, this is going to be amazing!”

 **You** : Advanced team. And thanks a lot! Lance is squealing.

 **Goth Socrates** : That’s some interesting imagery.

 **Goth Socrates** : See you on Saturday!

***

**_Yuuhi News_ **

**VIRIDIAN GYM OPENS AGAIN LED BY BLUE OAK**

This weekend marked the reopening of the Viridian Gym after two years of uncertainty. Time has yet to fully heal the damage left from harbouring the headquarters of Nippon’s most notorious criminal organization, but a new hope has arisen in the face of its current Leader. 

Blue Oak, Indigo Ex-Champion and child superstar who elevated Nippon’s League to international glory, has stated in previous interviews that he’s not worried about filling the sizeable experience gap between himself and the former Leader, Team Rocket’s boss Giovanni. 

Despite its grim history, the gym has not been drastically renovated. The labyrinths, and the trainers they harboured, which used to serve as the main obstacle course on the path to the Gym battle, have been removed, leaving behind a clear path to the Leader’s podium. The minimalist style is a conscious choice, as in Oak’s own words:

“We’re here to battle, not sightsee or relive the past.”

The opening ceremony gathered massive crowds outside, all eager to catch a glimpse of their idols. Blue seemed comfortable with the fans and easily fit in amongst the other Indigo League members. In a surprising turn of events, instead of Champion Lance, Sinnoh’s Cynthia took the stage as the opponent for the new gym’s first match. 

The battle was a humbling sight to behold. Both trainers used their highest-level teams for a televised spectacle that put millions on the edge of their seat. Trainer Blue managed to win with a dramatic last-minute critical hit that took out Cynthia’s iconic Garchomp. Winning on home turf gave Kantonians a new hope for their League’s clean slate.

The gym opened its doors to challengers on the following day, struggling to accommodate the long queue of badge collectors from all around the country. We wish to remind our readers that they need the seven Kanto badges to challenge the Viridian Gym. To those who don’t have them yet, you can start collecting at any age above 10 as of this January, and to those who do—best of luck!

***

**Tweedledumb** : None of the newspapers did a detailed review of the battle :’( 

**Tweedledumb** : I wish I was there to see it.

 **You** : there was an actual battle critic but she writes for a blog. i’ll type out the article 

**You** : but there’s sth else

 **You** : i kinda asked cynthia abt our situation

 **Tweedledumb** : You did what????

 **You** : nono, i didn’t tell her it’s u or mewtwo but she knows a lot abt mythology so i just asked how she thinks humans would deal with a legendary if it went rogue

 **You** : so humans can’t do shit but rmmbr when we studied abt the timespace pkmn? and the beef btwn Arceus and Giratina? well acc to cynth Arceus didn’t just banish it but also created another trio to calm it down and guard it and from them came all rational thought. so i think if i find them we can put them to guard mewtwo or at least calm it down

Blue waited for a full minute and when no answer came, he started panicking. Did he push too much again? No, he didn’t—Red couldn’t be planning on being on that mountain forever. This has to be done with at some point.

 **You** : ffs say sth

 **Tweedledumb** : Give me a moment your texting is horrible. 

**Tweedledumb** : Okay, I’m done. I get what you’re saying but I don’t think it will appreciate any more attempts to mess with its mind. 

**You** : srsly? they were made to contain dangerous legendaries 

**Tweedledumb** : It’s been contained enough. Give it a chance to learn to control its power.

 **You** : it’s been out for years stop making excuses for it! this is stockholm syndrome how long do u plan on living like this???

 **Tweedledumb** : I really don’t want to argue about this. Let me try to train it first before you drop everything and go legendary hunting. 

**You** : don’t make this abt me. u rly think i care more abt the gym than u coming back

 **You** : this isn’t training, u feed it, it ignores u. we have a potential solution why not take it?

 **Tweedledumb** : It chose me, maybe it thinks I can help. It needs to get comfortable first. Besides, legendaries are not easy to catch, looking for them might take longer.

 **You** : how would u know??? if that girl in hoenn can do it why can’t i??

 **Tweedledumb** : I’ve caught legendaries. I don’t think you can blindly look for them, they’ll appear to you if it’s necessary.

The thump of his Pokegear falling on the ground snapped Blue out of his shock. 

**You** : first the visions now ur telling me u have legendaries. im doing all i can to help and u keep hiding things from me. r u ever gonna tell me what rly happened?

 **Tweedledumb** : It never seemed relevant. I found the bird trio before the Championship. I never used them to battle, they just helped me train and left when they thought I was ready. 

Blue was furious. He’d been asked every single minuscule detail about the past years, from what items he’d gathered to how often he washed his socks and he’d answered thoroughly because it was Red, of course he’d tell him. He’d spent all his life feeding the bastard’s bottomless pit of curiosity. 

He was used to Red not talking about himself much and his weird definition of relevant, but how was he supposed to help when getting the most basic information was like squeezing water out of the world’s most stubborn rock?!

 **Tweedledumb** : I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was that important. I promise there’s nothing more and I didn’t hide anything on purpose.

 **Tweedledumb** : And I really appreciate how much you’re doing just please give it a chance. It just needs a bit of understanding and time.

With a sigh, Blue picked up the device again and stared at the screen. He wasn’t winning this one either, was he?

 **You** : i still want alakazam present for everything. i don’t want to resort to that but he can read ur mind, he’ll tell me if u try anything stupid

 **Tweedledumb** : That’s fair. Is he okay with that? I’ve been straining him a lot with supply runs.

Mild annoyance hit him at the assumption that he hadn’t already confirmed with his Pokemon at the very beginning of all this. He was too tired for petty fights, though.

 **You** : he likes it. he’s overleveled and can’t battle much, keeps him from getting rusty

 **Tweedledumb** : Okay. Do you want me to keep checking in twice a day?

 **You** : miss a day and im dragging u by ur fkn overgrown mane

 **Tweedledumb** : Okay. 

He was about to collapse in bed when another text came through.

 **Tweedledumb** : Will you tell me about the battle? 

**Tweedledumb** : Please.

Blue’s treacherous heart squeezed. Red might be an idiot but he was also a goddamn martyr, missing out on life to protect people who’d never find out how much he was giving up. 

**You** : i’ll write out the article wait a lil

 **Tweedledumb** : It’s late, you must be exhausted. Just call and tell me what happened.

Relieved that he wouldn’t have to type for an hour, Blue pressed the call button. He was still mad, yet he couldn’t help but smile at the array of enthusiastic huffs and gasps coming from the other end. Somehow, they were more flattering than any crowd’s screams. 

***

It took awhile for Blue to figure out how to balance everything. The battle club didn’t count as physical activity, so he had to choose a sports club as well. Volleyball had been fun in Unova, but the Viridian team was way too intense for his busy schedule. He signed up for martial arts instead and, combined with a Pokemon psychology elective and staying to clean up after class, his school day ended at around 6pm, with another half an hour to forty five minutes on top for the cycle back to Pallet.

In the beginning, he tried opening the gym for two hours every day after school and for ten hours on Saturday and Sunday each. As assignments started piling up, he shifted the weekday gym hours to early morning, starting fresh at 6am. Having to wake up at 5 sucked, but the accountant didn’t mind and it left Blue with more energy to deal with schoolwork in the evenings. 

Classes started at 8am and he usually got the morning check in from Red around second period. He ate lunch with Leaf, quickly forming a sense of camaraderie with her, since both of them were in that weird middle ground where they were too young for high schoolers to socialize with, but too intimidating for anyone to pick on. Most of their classmates quickly got over the celebrity status, beyond which they saw just two kids with inflated egos.

After classes and cleanup came club activities. The karate kids were easygoing and did their best to fully include him. He ended up mostly sparring with the girls because of his smaller size, but a lot of them had started years ago and could both teach him a lot and hand him his ass on a silver platter when he got too cocky. 

The battle club, on the other hand, treated him like a divine being that had come to shine its wisdom upon Viridian high. He had some hardcore fans who joined just to ogle him and most of the small battling profile’s students. Their club’s total number came to around 20 after Blue did a quick purge. He didn’t want to discriminate based on their Pokemon’s level, so instead he made everyone choose one of their team members and explain in detail how they groomed them. Most passed, but he almost lost his temper when an idiot showed off a Raticate that probably hadn’t had its fur conditioned since it was caught.

Leaf, on the other hand, had gradually formed a network with the other overachievers obsessed with getting into top universities. The only class they shared was advanced math, but he still made a habit out of studying with her, whenever she wasn;t surrounded by her small group of dweebs. 

That’s how he found himself in a small café on the last Friday evening before Golden Week. The gym was expected to be busier, so he wanted to catch up on schoolwork and have some free time left.

He was mostly done with his classical mechanics homework, but the bio paper on human and Pokemon evolutionary lines was proving to be a real bitch.

Leaf had no qualms about laughing at Blue’s suffering.

“Piss off, you hag.”

“You know, we did study this in that last year of middle school, which your Champion ass got to skip.”

“Fuck’s sake. It was barely on the curriculum and not on any of the entrance exams. Why did they let me pass if I had more shit to study?” 

“Hmm, maybe because no one expected kids to become Champions,” she said sarcastically. “You do realise the whole skipping school charade was to trick us into taking journeys more seriously, right? They don’t have a test designed to cover everything. A high school admissions exam is a glorified IQ test and the equivalence one just made sure we wouldn’t die if we had to travel through tall grass.”

“Fucking brilliant.”

With a groan, he opened the chapter on evolution to the short summary at the end.

{Excluding nonprocreating legendary Pokemon, life on Earth can be traced to two distinct evolutionary lines: the microorganisms in hydrothermal vents, which led to the evolution of humans, and the Mew populations in Kanto, from which all Pokemon originated. Because of contradictory fossil evidence, it’s still debated how and when exactly Mew came to be, but their homeothermic nature, and thus high rates of oxidative respiration, have prompted most scientists to place their origin at around 200 million years ago, together with the first mammals. 

Due to Nippon’s geographic isolation, those lines evolved independently for a long part of history. The country’s diverse climate, combined with Mew’s increased rate of mutations, caused certain beneficial for the local environment phenotypical mutations to gradually differentiate the original Mew population into separate species. The great Pokemon migrations around a million years ago pushed them off the island of Nippon and into the rest of the world, and, with their vastly superior intelligence and abilities to manipulate matter and energy, they quickly took over the niches occupied by animals, causing most of their extinction.. 

A notable exception was a strain of hominids that had mutated to emit a pheromone recognized by Pokemon. The ones with higher sensitivity to each other formed the first primal trainer-Pokemon bonds, which gave them an enormous competitive advantage over other species, setting up the final step to modern evolution.}

“Ugh, guess I’ll focus on prokaryotes and archaea. How they persisted and such…or maybe domesticated farm animals…”

Leaf was still furiously typing on her laptop and barely acknowledged him with a, “Good for you.”

He busied himself with more research and outlining until his Pokegear buzzed. It was around his usual dinner time. Crap. He quickly took the device but the noise had been enough to startle Leaf.

“Wait, that name…”

He tried to respond casually. “It’s just Daisy. She’s asking if I can pick her up from the station tomorrow.”

The cogs were turning in Leaf’s head. Fuck. Did she see it? Would she recognize the nickname? She was the one who came up with it, of course she’d recognize it! Fuck. 

As the silence started suffocating his brain, Blue did his best to put on a believable nothing-to-see-here-move-along face. 

Maybe it was his incredible acting, or Leaf blaming it on her study-fried brain, or them generally avoiding the Red topic like the plague…Blue didn’t know how but by some divine intervention, Leaf shook her head, as if getting rid of a minor headache, and glared at his withdrawn Pokegear.

“Never mind. By the way, why are you still using that thing?”

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked in mild surprise, secretly relieved at the sudden change of topic.

“It’s ancient.”

“So? Does the job. Mine can connect to the internet, as well, so…”

“Yeah, news sites and maybe a dictionary,” she scoffed dismissively. “Those things are for kids. Everything’s age-restricted.”

Huh. Blue had never seen a problem with his Pokegear, but he’d also never seen anyone in his school use one. He shrugged.

“You make so much at the gym, go treat yourself to a big boy phone,” Leaf said teasingly. She looked contemplative for a second. “Actually, what are you doing with your money? Are you planning to invest? I can help you buy some stocks! Or are you the government bonds type? Real estate, maybe?” Her eyebrows were wiggling like Weedles on their way to monopolize the free market. His imagination helpfully supplied a monocle and a cylinder hat to go with her corrupt smile. 

***

After closing up for the day, Blue found himself at the station an hour and a half early. He’d missed Daisy’s message about catching a later train, but the delay was not significant enough to go back and reopen the gym. 

The shopping mall right next door seemed like a good enough place to kill time. He picked up some manga and two copies of GSL for Dummies vol2 from the book store. Umbreon gave him an adorable look when they passed by the food court so next stop was a Poketreats café. 

Remembering Leaf’s words, he wandered around an electronics store and browsed the smartphones. They seemed flimsy and the touch screen thing was plain weird, but the large variety of apps and functions sold him. He chose a sleek-looking black model for himself but it took 40 minutes and three employees to find something that’d be compatible with Red’s primitive SIM card. They finally dug out some sort of military grade rugged device that a famous survivalist show host was known for using. It was bulky and kind of ugly, but it had all the functions plus a fancy camera. It also cost enough to feed a small army for a month, but Blue had no idea what to do with his money anyway, so he quickly bought both models and dashed back to the station. 

Daisy seemed tired but overall happy. Saffron was a little too dynamic for her taste and her coursework was a lot, but she liked how they didn’t waste any time. She’d already found some new friends, in addition to the ones from Viridian High who’d also moved there. 

In turn, Blue told her about his own routine and basked in the praise for managing to keep everything afloat. The house was big, but not too hard to maintain, although Daisy did point out some stuff he’d forgotten, like replacing the old cockroach baits, cleaning behind and under the oven, and defrosting the fridge. They got to that over the next few days after Blue was done with the gym. He wanted to get his hours in early and spend some quality time with both his sister and Red.

It didn’t work out exactly like that. He had no idea what was happening while he was in Viridian, but Daisy was getting grumpier with each passing day. He finally put the pieces together when one evening gramps came home in time for dinner. For the first time in his life, Blue was the one trying to break the awkward silences as the two actual adults stubbornly ignored each other. At one point he got so frustrated, he directly asked what the hell their problem was. 

In true Oak fashion, nothing was solved through healthy communication, so instead of letting him in on what was happening, Daisy left for Saffron early after a few days of late-night murmured fights with gramps. 

At this point, Blue knew when to pick his battles, so he didn’t pester her anymore, just joined in for a day trip. She immediately relaxed once they got away from the house and they managed to have some fun exploring Saffron’s numerous tourist traps.

Daisy bought a new laptop for notetaking in the electronics district, deciding to give her old one to Blue. With that in mind, he set out to look for some very specific DVDs, as Daisy browsed cute Pokemon figurines. 

After regrouping, they went to an arcade where she obliterated him in a few racing games and he evened the score with his superior DanceDanceOverthrow skills. The day was finished with spicy fried chicken and shaved ice that made him so pleasantly full, he almost fell off of Pidgeot on the way back.

***

Out of habit, Blue woke up at an ungodly hour the next morning. He had plenty of time to download a few apps on Red’s new phone and get a quick tutorial from Elesa on how to manipulate DVD files. His karate club senpais always nagged about more physical exercise so he decided to climb up and carry everything himself. 

The chill of Mt. Silver’s slopes was comforting and graciously prevented him from sweating like a pregnant nun. It was almost noon when he reached the living cave where Red was still fast asleep. For a second Blue was tempted to wake up the lazyass, but he looked so peaceful, hugging his pillow and with Murkrow curled up on top of the GSL book next to the futon. 

The other Pokemon were awake, doing their own things, so he greeted them with a few pets and scratches and got to stuffing all the stray candy wrappers into recycling bags. He was about to do the same with the large pile of old newspapers when he noticed Red groggily staring at him, still curled up in bed. 

“Were you in a coma or something? What time did you go to bed?”

At the sound of his voice, Red’s eyes immediately widened and he shot up to a sitting position, startling Murkrow.

“What? Not happy to see me? Tough luck. Daisy’s gone, so I’m staying here till Sunday.”

Red ran a hand through his messy bedhead and fumbled around the futon to find his Pokegear. 

“No no, you said you’ve studied. Try to sign it.”

He pouted, but after a moment of thinking, closed his hand into a fist and made a circular motion on his chest.

_Sorry._

“For what?” Blue was ready to wait, but Red gave up quickly and waved his hand, gesturing to the whole cave.

“Oh. Yeah, ‘twas a mess. Also, this is how you say dirty.” He showed the correct motion and Red mimicked it, but went back to typing immediately after. 

**You:** Did you practice?

“Nah, I’m just that smart.” Blue grinned. “Look, I know you hate memorising, but imma help. Now be a good boy and get dressed. I’ve got stuff for ya.” 

Red finally changed out of his pyjamas and headed outside with his toothbrush. Blue used the time to lay out the phone, laptop, DVDs, and books on the ground.

“Ta-da.”

The eloquent response he got was

 **You** : ???

“Ever the poetic soul. I’m taking you out of the Stone Age. Be grateful.”

**You** : You want me to keep all this?

After Blue’s nod he got another screen.

 **You** : How much was it?

“It’s Daisy’s old laptop and I took most of the DVDs from home. Don’t worry about the rest—you’ve wasted enough of your journey money feeding the sugar junkie.”

Red stared for a while before pulling up his next response with a deadpan face.

 **You** : Are you my patron now?

Blue should’ve laughed. He should’ve found the very unwanted image of Red in a kimono, laughing and pouring tea, funny, absurd, even disturbing. He was definitely not supposed to think that it kinda worked with his rival’s cutesy face, pale skin, and big eyes.

His brain refused to come up with a witty retort.

“You’d be such a shitty geisha. Can you even make tea?”

The bastard courteously bowed when presenting the screen.

 **You** : Would you like me to try, my dearest patron? 

Red was barely keeping up a straight face anymore, which, thankfully, took Blue out of his weird trance. 

“Oh, shut up. Come here, I need to teach you how to use ’em.” He booted up the laptop, as Red sat next to him. “It’s pretty much like a normal computer. You just use this thing instead of a mouse.” He put the device in Red’s lap, letting him get used to the touch pad. “Obviously, the internet won’t work, but it can play DVDs and Daisy has a few programs if you wanna pick up some useful skills for once. I also saved a few cool matches. Hoenn girl’s championship battle, Morty vs. Agatha, best of the Kalos League, and so on.”

Red looked at him eagerly, pulling out his Pokegear.

“Yes, my battle with Cynthia is also there. Gimme that,” he took the antique monstrosity and praised all higher powers when the new phone accepted its SIM card.

“Nice. Now,” he snapped his fingers in front of Red’s face to get his attention back from the laptop screen, “this thing is a bitch, but you’ll get used to it. I’ve put kanji and GSL practice apps and a few encyclopaedias on it. It’s supposed to be fall, dust, and waterproof like a Pokegear, but don’t test it. This cable connects to a computer if you wanna transfer files.”

Red took the phone as well and quickly started tapping around the various icons. 

“Both of them charge like a Pokegear, so Pikacunt should be able to, as long as she controls her voltage. You’ll have to send them back once a month or so for updates that need internet.”

Red was nodding away but he already seemed distracted.

“Fuck’s sake, of course you found the Pokefarm game. Oi, this is for education!”

Blue snatched the phone and closed the dumb mobile game. The fuckwit shrugged and resumed the video of Blue’s battle.

“Okay, you’re already in timeout. We have work to do. Get your kanji paper. After that we’re practicing GSL.”

Red sulked a bit but closed the laptop and outstretched his hand to get his new phone back.

 **You** : Your wish is my command, master.

Blue felt the start of a painful headache. 

***

Being back on the mountain was an oasis of serenity amidst all the stress and drama of the real world. He and Red easily settled into a chill routine of studying, practicing, and sheer dumbassery. 

Mewtwo still refused to come out when they pressed its Pokeball and didn’t bother them, probably sensing Blue’s presence. The lack of progress was frustrating, but Blue was selfishly grateful that his small vacation remained uninterrupted. 

Instead of trashing the old newspapers, they asked Venusaur to make some quick-dry glue and stacked the thicker issues into a makeshift table for the laptop. It was literally a cube of paper, but it did the job. They also moved Blue’s futon to the cave’s wall and buried it in pillows, turning it into something akin to a couch. 

After getting ready for bed, they’d sit there and watch a movie or a few anime episodes. Blue’s internal clock made him fall asleep about a third into whatever it was, but he always woke up tucked in and with the pillows mostly out of the way. 

Sleeping Beauty woke up after 11, so Blue used the mornings for his daily bath, some training of the gym’s advanced team, cooking brunch, and prepping Red’s lessons for the day. 

Saturday night came way too quickly and, knowing that he’d have to go back the next day, Blue tried to pay more attention to the _Yuu-Min-Go_ episode that was playing.

“Ugh, I can’t take this thing seriously when the main character’s head looks like a diseased pineapple.”

It wasn’t his best joke, but he was used to throwing fleeting thoughts about the shows out loud. He never expected to hear a quiet but distinct giggle in return. Before passing it off as a figment of his imagination, he glanced at Red, whose startled face confirmed the noise had indeed come from him. 

“Did you just…”

Red nodded hesitantly, putting a hand on his neck. He opened his mouth, trying to repeat the motion, but immediately stopped, discomfort evident on his face.

“No, don’t push yourself.” 

He didn’t listen and tried again, this time resulting in him grasping at his throat like he was choking. You could actually see the neck pulsating. Blue only snapped out of his shell shocked state when Red’s other hand desperately gripped his sleeve. 

He gently detached the palm and tried to knead soothing circles into it.

“It’s okay,” he spoke slowly, trying to keep his tone even, although he didn’t have the faintest idea of what to say. “Just angry neurons. It’s your brain, you can calm it down. Good job, you’re doing great. Now breathe.” He started a steady rhythm, keeping it up until he heard matching inhales. 

The hand clutching Red’s throat cautiously eased its grip. His eyes remained closed while he focused on stabilising his breathing. Blue continued lightly digging into his palm, hoping he was hitting at least some of the right pressure points.

In a few moments, Red’s eyes slowly opened and he gently squeezed back, pulling away to pause the video and look for his Pokegear.

 **You** : I’m sorry

“The fuck are you apologising for? You can speak, Red, that’s huge! Just don’t try it anymore for now…Shit, we really need to get you to a doctor…”

 **You** : First thing after I come down.

“Yeah, whenever that happens.” Red didn’t respond, as expected, so Blue sighed and let it go for the hundredth time. “What tests did they do to you exactly? I researched a bit but aphonia is just inability to make sound. Did they give any specific reasons?”

 **You** : Most tests required a specialist or booking equipment and were going to take too long. They put a camera thing down my throat, plus the coughing. It didn’t show much, just something about my cords’ lubrication and that I have to be careful not to whisper. Most agreed it’s primarily neurological but I really don’t remember how they came to that.

“Shit. This is way beyond me. Can’t we go down for a day or something? Just leave it here with the Pokemon.”

 **You** : I don’t think it matters when I go. It’s been a long time already. 

**You** : And besides, all the hospital stuff will take a lot more than a day.

Blue tried to decipher his poker face. 

“Lemme get this straight. There’s a chance you might be able to speak again and you’re still hellbent on staying.” He made sure to look Red dead in the eyes. “You’re afraid to come back, aren’t you?”

Red stared back for a few seconds and nodded.

 **You** : Partially. But also, there’s no point until I’m fully done here.

Was it fear of disappointing his mom? Dealing with the media? Going back into society possibly mute? Probably all of those.

Red didn’t seem keen on any deep conversations, so as much as he wanted to clear this here and now, Blue knew it wasn’t the right moment. 

“Ugh,” he fell back on the pillows, curling up in his blanket towards Red. “Does the lethal emo brat at least look at you? Any sign it’s reading your mind?”

 **You** : I tried speaking in my head, waving and making noises, but it hasn’t reacted yet. I think it likes Alakazam. It looked at him and didn’t seem angry. 

“So, still nowhere. Great.”

Red shook his head.

 **You** : It’s comfortable coming out around me and doesn’t attack anymore. That’s a lot. I think it likes the quiet. 

**You** : It just needs time.

They stared at each other some more, as if that would make up for all the things that remained unspoken. 

Blue glanced at the dim light coming from the laptop screen.

“Wanna finish the episode?”

An eager nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were the context notes too much? Is this stuff common knowledge? Should I put them at the beginning or end?
> 
> I imagine Blue's school uniform is the dark grey with red type, but feel free to use your own version. 
> 
> Also, I have no idea what's happening irl, but I might be allowed to return to my lab, which would significantly slow down updates. I'm still too obsessed with this to let it go, so the story shall continue.


	10. Chapter 10

Monday saw the final few of the initial wave of challengers, after which things got a lot slower in the gym. Blue’s mornings were spent catching up on homework, practicing GSL, and chatting away with the girls. 

The dullness of his week was briefly interrupted when his brilliant scheming came to fruition. 

**Tweedledumb** : Really?

**Tweedledumb** : How?

**Tweedledumb** : Where?

**Tweedledumb** : WHY WOULD ANYONE MAKE A GSL-ONLY EDITION OF ANYTHING

It would seem that Red had reached season two of  _ Yuu-Min-Go _ .

**You** : wasn’t gsl only, i removed the audio. u needed some motivation. rest of the seasons r the same don’t even try to exchange them i’ve warned alakazam.

**Tweedledumb** : You’re such an asshole.

Blue chuckled. If he managed to make Red swear, it was definitely mission successful. 

**You** : Young man! Watch your profanity!

**Tweedledumb** : I’m older!

**You** : yet so immature…

**Tweedledumb** : .i.

**You** : case in point

***

The upcoming months passed by in a blur of monotony Blue hadn’t experienced since before the start of his journey. Wake up, gym, school, clubs, studying, rinse and repeat. The best weeks were when they didn’t have too many assignments and he could shift his schedule around to leave Sundays free for Red. 

Initially, he was still pissy about the anime and instead of simply sitting down and studying more, used Daisy’s video editing programs to fuck around with the files. He’d record his Pokemon’s cries and dub the audio. The results were hilarious and honestly quite impressive, although Blue did start to worry about the underlying reasons for Red’s aversion to GSL. He didn’t bring it up, just did his best to help with practice and make it seem like nothing more than a standard school subject. It worked better than dramatic heart to hearts, which neither of them was a big fan of anyway. 

Mewtwo still refused to come out when Blue was around, but it started to “communicate” by showing visions of the snacks it wanted. For a thing that’d lived in a cave for years it sure had expensive taste. 

Still on the lookout for a quicker solution, Blue had a few discussions with his Pokemon psychology teacher, but couldn’t get much more than the usual trainer-bond mechanics without getting into dangerously specific territory. He asked Cynthia about the Lake Guardians as well, but there hadn’t been sightings in centuries. The most he could do was read a bunch of stuff and send what seemed helpful over to Mt. Silver. It was mostly a series of niche observational studies on post-war battle Pokemon, but they’d been halted in the initial stages due to the press tearing into the morality of the issue. The only major thing he got was confirmation about traumatized Pokemon’s aggressive tendencies and issues with temper control, which Mewtwo was pretty much the epitome of. 

Midterms passed without much fanfare, except for Leaf freaking out like she wasn’t the one who’d signed up for all those extra classes. Blue’s form of moral support was listening to her go on about macroeconomics and appeasing her with cheesecake when her right eye started to twitch.

On the weekend after exams, he went to work extra early to finally use the fancy office computer for some quality gaming time. Kalosian grammar had definitely put him in the mood to annihilate online enemy troops. Even the giant lag from playing on a distant server couldn’t stop his murderous spree, at least until Elesa had to go to a family dinner and there was no one left to actually carry the team.

Skyla and him went on to browse their favourite meme sites. His face was still used as some sort of reaction template from when an interviewer had asked if Blue’s popularity was bringing “all the girls to the yard”. The awful Galarian translation didn’t do the already awkward question any favours.

The joke was already beaten to death, yet Skyla still squawked like a Fearow every time they scrolled past it. He was about to defend his dignity for the nth time, when, after calming down, she dropped a bomb.

“By the way, I told her.”

He almost didn’t get what she was talking about but the serious tone quickly jolted his brain.

“Wait, what? Elesa? When? You told me you were over her months ago?!”

“Well, yeah, but she still deserves to know. Just buckled down and told her a few days ago. Didn’t want it to hang over us.”

“How did it go?”

“Super chill actually. She said that she never expected someone as amazing as me to see her like that. I mean, she’s still into guys, but we’re good. Now she wants us to rank both the guys and girls on  _ Dancing with the League. _ ”

“How are you feeling, though? Must’ve been a tough conversation.”

“Yeah, I was super nervous, but she was really sweet about it and, honestly, it’s a relief. I don’t feel like a creep just for hanging out with her, so that’s nice.”

“Huh. Glad it went well then. But you sure you’re good? Not that I’m an expert, but feelings don’t just disappear, especially when you’re so close, right?”

“I mean, obviously, she’ll always be special to me. First crushes and all. But we’re friends first and foremost. And, like, I’m not a masochist—I know I don’t have a chance, so it makes it easier to let it go. I don’t know. I still get kinda jealous when she gushes over boys sometimes, but also I want someone who’ll like me as much as I like them, you know?”

“For sure! Proud of ya. This shit takes balls.”

“Ohmygod it  _ does _ ! I’m proud of myself too. It’s kinda awkward sometimes, but I think it was good for our friendship. How about you Mr Milkshake? All the high school girls spinning your head?”

“Yeah, no, my head is doing great right where it’s at, thank you very much.”

“Really? You don’t think any of them are cute?” 

“Pft, not cute enough to score a stud like me.” 

His boasting was met with insultingly hysterical laughter, but she did prompt him to answer seriously. 

“Ugh, I dunno. There’s plenty of objectively attractive people, but they’re either old or morons. Usually both.”

“Lol “objectively attractive.” Such a stiff. How about that Leaf girl? You sure spend a lot of time with her, hmm…” Blue could practically hear the knowing smirk. He let out a dramatic sigh. Skyla wasn’t the first one to tease him about that. His senpais and Daisy had been on it for weeks.

“Just cuz we’re friends doesn’t mean I like her like that. She’s literally the only person around my age in school and we’ve known each other for ages—of course we’d hang out. Besides, Leaf is…” Cold shivers ran down his spine at just the thought of falling for…that, “kinda terrifying.”

“Oof, didn’t know you’re such a pussy. Scared of strong, smart women, huh?”

“No, scared of scary people. I have self-preservation instincts. And not that much time to think about dating.”

“True, all your clubs and the gym. And your school stuff sounds really tough...”

“Yeah, add all the research on top and I’m barely left with a sleep schedule,” he complained absent-mindedly before realising he’d slipped up again. It was increasingly hard not to mention anything about Red, especially on voice calls. It just came out and then he had to think of a way to quickly sweep it under the rug.

“Research? You a porn addict now?”

“Holy shit, how did you even come to that? Do you have to be such a perv?!”

“I’m not, that’s what high schoolers here call it! You know, “biology research”.”

“Um, no, not that kind.” Who needs porn when you have an overactive imagination? Ugh. He was now even more desperate to get out of that conversation. “Listen, I think the accountant’s here, I gotta go open the gym.”

“Mhmm, sure, sexplorer.” Yeah, it had taken him embarrassingly long to get that joke. Still, better give her teasing ammo than accidentally reveal something about Red or Mewtwo. 

“For real, tho I gotta go open. Say hi to everyone for me.”

“Of course. Good luck with the challengers!”

“Hah, like I need it.”

***

With more people being serious about their journeys during spring, early summer brought an increase in all high-level gym’s numbers, including Viridian’s. As summer vacation neared, so did the training camp that Blue, as president of the battle club, had to organise. He was neck-deep in studying for his final exams, doing assignments, and trying to research more about the different Pokemon all of his club members had. 

The plan was for a week-long retreat all about proper communication and care for your team, but each species had drastically different needs and he hadn’t really worked with a large percentage of them. Pestering Leaf about joining had yet to yield results, leaving Blue as the only semi-competent trainer to do some educating. 

On top of that, he was still trying to find ways to deal with Mewtwo. He’d even resorted to asking gramps some questions, only to be shot down with grumpy one-sentence replies. His energy reserves weren’t nearly enough for whatever was giving the professor such a giant wedgie, so the matter was quickly dropped and Blue was back to shuffling through obscure studies.

His head was all over the place, so it became routine to bike back and forth from Viridian at least two extra times a day. Maybe he wasn’t too young for dementia after all, seeing as he constantly forgot something, be it a necessary battle item, a homework assignment, or one of his three outfits for the day (regular clothes, school uniform, and gym outfit plus shoes. Always forgot the goddamn indoor shoes). Flying on Pidgeot was still an option, but considering that he was technically only allowed to land in the designated area at the PokeCentre (the school had actually sent out a passive-aggressive email about parking rules after his stunt on the opening day ceremony), it amounted to around the same commute time, so bothering his Pokemon wasn’t really worth it. 

The daily messages from Red had gradually switched to cute pictures of his Pokemon or beautiful shots of Mt. Silver’s scenery. Those really helped lift Blue’s mood but also made him long for the peace and quiet there. Thus, one week before finals, he got permission from Lance to decrease his hours in light of the upcoming exams and retreated to Mt. Silver for a weekend to relax a bit and do some last-minute revising.

Red, bless his soul, was a great silent cheerleader, dragging him outside for mini hikes when his head was about to explode and doing all the cooking for the duration of Blue’s stay. It was mostly tea or berry juice with grilled fish—not a great combination, but the gesture was appreciated. 

He also endured all of Blue’s bitching and dutifully expressed the right amount of outrage at his rival’s numerous peeves. He even promised to compose guides on proper care for all his Pokemon - the golden team, whose members were now immensely popular among all trainers in Kanto, including Blue’s clubmates. That actually severely decreased his post-finals tasks, so he gratefully accepted, in exchange for finally convincing Red to let him help out with Mewtwo’s feeding costs. 

On the way down, he felt refreshed and caught up on sleep for the first time in weeks. He even took a longer route than usual, wandering around the different caves and gathering the few items lingering there. In one of the lower caves, he saw something like a dusty Pokeball peeking from behind a rock. To his utmost disdain, it turned out to be a disgusting piece of cloth, namely Red’s old cap. The temptation to burn the cursed thing was there as usual, but knowing how much Red loved it, he put it in a small bag and carried it down, wondering if it was even salvageable at this point.

***

After finals, Blue spent fifteen hours a day at the gym for five consecutive days to compensate for his absence and free up the rest of his week. The number of challengers was manageable, allowing him to do some work in between, until he got a particularly…interesting individual. As in the  _ interesting _ one uses for ugly babies.

**You** : found ur electric chicken

**Tweedledumb** : You caught Zapdos?

**You** : nope, a challenger had it. one of the helix cultists. 

**Tweedledumb** : The hivemind people?

**You** : yup. mf lost 13 times tday prolly will come back tmrw. was twitching like crazy and spewing some bs abt anarchy. also sparky now goes by john the zaptist

**Tweedledumb** : Wow…

**Tweedledumb** : Something major happened on my front too actually.

**You** : mewtwo???? r u okay??? should i send alakazam?

**Tweedledumb** : I’m all right. No need to send him now, usual time tomorrow.

**You** : ???? soooooo???? stop teasing and spill

**Tweedledumb** : It’s related to something I want to keep a surprise. 

**You** : ffs why r u even telling me then

**Tweedledumb** : Truce: are you coming for my birthday?

**You** : aww miss me that much? i was gonna pretend i forgot and all. 

**Tweedledumb** : Cute. I’ll tell you then. Say hi to John the Zaptist.

***

The gifts were dumb. What was he thinking? He should’ve just bought a new console or a rare card deck. A cooking pot? That’d be useful at least. Maybe Red’d learn how to make something other than grilled fish.

Well, two hours into scaling a killer mountain was too late to turn back, especially when carrying a box that couldn’t be squished. No fucking way—he’d spent way too long on this. Decisions had been made and Blue was sticking with them. 

They usually went for longer hikes, since Umbreon was a fan and these days this was her only form of exercise, but this time Blue and his stupid box took the shortest route to the living cave. He stormed in, fully intent on storming right out if Red had the audacity to bitch about his gifts. He’d been the one to ban anything expensive, so he had absolutely no right to be picky.

To Blue’s slight dismay, Lord of the Snooze was, for once, up and about before midday and glued to the computer. He quickly closed the screen and, as usual, skipped pleasantries. 

_ Late _

“Ha! What’s wrong, birthday boy? Getting old? Bones too creaky to get up and shove a screen in my face, hmm? Finally gonna admit GSL is fucking awesome?”

Red’s response was blatantly ignoring his teasing and pointing to the sizeable box.

_ Cake? _

“That’s for later.”

He went over to the makeshift table as Red got the computer out of the way. The box was put down and swiftly protected from a pair of greedy hands.

“Tsk, patience! You want your gifts or not?”

The menace’s gaze immediately shifted to the backpack Blue was shuffling through. He was still having second thoughts about the first “gift,” at least until he saw the pure joy on Red’s face at the sight of his beloved cap. It had been a nightmare to clean, but damn if Blue wasn’t a prodigy in everything, including laundry. 

Red was already sporting it with a shit-eating grin. It should’ve looked ridiculous—the hat was as ugly as ever and evidently too small. Despite all that, Blue couldn’t help but find it endearing, momentarily taken back to when the thing had been bought as a good-luck charm for the start of Red’s journey. 

In retrospect, Delia probably just wanted something to counter her son’s aversion to sunscreen and save his pale skin from permanent damage. It was useless now—Blue had long ago found a cream Red could tolerate the smell of—but the hat still carried sentimental value, being a symbol of their generation, the revival of battling, the belief in your Pokemon, and all that crap. 

**You** : Where did you find it?!

“Behind a rock in one of the lower caves. It was gross. If you still insist on paying me back, add a fuck-ton of detergent to the bill. And my precious time scrubbing with a toothbrush.”

_ Thank you _

Ugh. Red smiling wasn’t that rare of a sight but it was usually a tiny upwards curve accompanied by his small huffs. Sometimes there’d be a toothy grin or a knowing smirk (or a sinister one, but that wasn’t real life, we’re not thinking about that, stop it right now). The little shit had no right to look so genuine and pure all of a sudden. 

“Fuck’s sake, don’t get sappy on me now,” he mumbled, digging out the second gift with unflinching concentration. “Here.” He handed the plain CD. 

Red looked at it suspiciously. It was obviously not a band or soundtrack—those had fancy cover art and packaging. 

“Well, don’t just stare at it. Play it now or later, I don’t care. We can eat first if you want to.”

He was about to open the large box, but Red shook his head and moved the laptop to his lap, opening the DVD player and inserting the disk. 

Blue was expecting the confused expression; there were only two files:  _ Music1 _ and  _ Music2 _ . He hadn’t really bothered with the names, too exhausted after the eight hours it had taken him and Elesa to figure out how to extract audio from an ancient cassette. 

The piercing notes of the first piece echoed through the cave. The small cassette had always been in the player, the dynamic violin background to so many hours spent in Red’s room. He knew Red loved the one sappy piece that came later on, but personally, Blue was a fan of the vigorous melodies that made up most of the collection. 

“The first file is the whole thing. Second one is just your favourite dose of depression. Thought I’d save you the energy of always skipping to it.”

His words snapped Red out of his trance, immediately turning him defensive, as if they hadn’t had this argument for a decade. 

**You** : It’s complex and soulful!

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just don’t loop it while I’m here.”

Red was now staring at him instead of the screen, making the stupid heat that liked to gather in his face re-emerge. Fucking summer haunting him even up here. 

“Why are you gawking at me?”

**You** : Where did you get that? It’s exactly the same!

“It  _ is  _ the same. Had to play the nostalgia card hard for your mum to let me copy it. She made me promise I’ll never show it to anyone, but I hope you don’t count. Just thought you could use something from home.” He shrugged nonchalantly, but the intensity of Red’s stare was making the situation a lot less casual than Blue wanted it to be. Emotional constipation through the roof. All troops on high alert. Smash respawn. 

“Holy shit, will you stop it with the staring? It’s just a CD.”

**You** : It’s really really thoughtful. 

“Yeah, well, you’re fucking welcome. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

He’d already opened the box before remembering what was inside. Ugh. Why did he have to be such a sap—he should’ve just bought cake.

Hopefully, Red wouldn’t recognize the Pokepuffs as anything more than store-bought. They looked the part for sure! Blue Oak was an immensely talented individual in every aspect of life who could learn how to bake in less than a week. 

“These two are for us, rest are for the Pokemon. Used their favourite berries. This one has extra sugar—it’s for the dormant diabetes.”

Red was already hovering over the human desserts with a questioning glance. 

“Yeah, you can eat.”

He took his own puff and eagerly bit into it. Perfection! Red thought so too, judging by the borderline inappropriate faces and groanshe was making. 

“Good?”

Eager nod. Followed by confusion. Fuck. Blue was back to a cold sweat as the typing started.

**You** : Triple chocolate with peanut butter and coconut sprinkles? Like the ones we tried to make when we started the fire?

“Damn, one hell of a palette, Pallet.”

**You** : Do they really sell those?

Blue took a huge bite of his and chewed slowly, hoping Red would go back to eating as well and forget about it. He didn’t. 

_??? _

“I dunno. I didn’t buy ’em.”

Staring at his food resulted in a phone tapping him on the head. 

**You** : You actually baked our 3 rd grade monstrosity? With the protein powder?

“Yeah, I did. Someone had to do them justice and good thing, cuz they’re fucking delicious.” Back at it with the staring. “Fuck’s sake, just eat.”

“…”

“Don’t stare at me and eat! Chewing only!” 

Red finally took another bite but not before letting out one of his infuriating huffs and proceeding to munch with poorly concealed amusement. Pointedly looking at Blue. Asshole. 

They finished up their puffs and guiltily went to distribute the rest to the Pokemon, apologising for the delay. Everyone seemed pleased, except for Murkrow, who was still sleeping, and Pikachu, who was sniffing hers from a safe distance. 

“Pft, don’t insult me. If I ever kill you, it’s gonna be much more creative than poison.”

Red was unbothered by their antics, calmly waving her concern away. She gingerly approached the dessert and bit off a tiny part. Not spitting it out was as much a compliment as Blue was gonna get, so he let her be when she tucked herself and the puff to where Umbreon was already eating.

They put Mewtwo’s special edition in front of its ball like an offering, which it sort of was.

**You** : It always changes its eating schedule when you’re here. 

“Yeah, I know. I guess it doesn’t wanna meet yet. Kinda rude but whatever,” he huffed, slightly irritated. 

Red always glared whenever he tried to provoke the lizard to come out, but this time Blue’s favourite piece went into its first shrilling notes and he dropped his attempts in favour of rocking his head in the rhythm of the music. Much to Red’s amusement apparently. 

“You can fuck right off—this is fire and you know it.” 

**You** : You realize this is a violin concerto, not your metal bands, right?

Blue twirled in a graceful pirouette, gallantly finishing with a middle finger in Red’s face. 

**You** : It’s called La Campanella

He stopped dead in his tracks.

“Wait, what? How do you know the name?”

**You** : Mom found me listening the night before we headed out. I asked about our favourites and she told me.

“What do you mean she told you? She was always so shady about this thing, I’m still convinced it has some kind of subliminal messages from a cult.”

**You** : Wasn’t it aliens?

“Or the secret service or something, I don’t know. How did you get her to talk?”

Red just shrugged but he must’ve seen Blue’s face, which was not one of a man who’d take a fucking shrug as an explanation for a decade-long mystery. His rival sighed and went back to typing.

Delia had said she got the cassette in a garage sale and always insisted she didn’t know who the player or pieces were. Blue’d started getting suspicious when she banned them from showing it to Leaf, but the conspiracy theories had started when she almost went nuts, catching them trying to sneak it out of the house to ask their music teacher. 

One eternity and more wandering conspiracies later, Red’s message was finally finished. 

**You** : So you know how my parents met while mom was studying in Hoenn? Turns out she wasn’t studying, she’d ran away to be in a violin quartet, this was her audition tape. She got in under a pseudonym, the band released some albums, got a tour in two years and they had a show in Hoenn. Dad was stationed there and I was an accident. She found out she’s pregnant in the middle of the tour and went back home. After a while grandma found out who my dad is but he was already discharged, back in Beikoku and married, so he didn’t really want anything to do with me. Internationally suing for child support was going to cost more than they’d get anyway, so they kind of let it go. My mom officially gave up on being a musician when grandma’s health worsened and stayed home to raise me. Sold the violin and went back to the family business. Only kept this tape. Pretty sure she doesn’t like to talk about it, so don’t ask when you go back. But yeah, that’s why she was so supportive of me leaving for a long time, to chase my dreams like she couldn’t. 

Blue instinctively looked up to Red’s face, waiting for the punchline. For all he knew, Delia was a watchmaker. 

_ Questions? _

“Shit, Red, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag this outta ya.”

_ It’s fine. I want you to know. Forgot to tell.  _

He couldn’t help but snicker at the ridiculousness of forgetting something this massive.

“Didn’t seem relevant, huh?”

Red nodded, completely serious. 

“Well, are you good? You’ve known for a while I guess, but still…”

_ It’s okay…but _ , he paused, seeming frustrated. Blue realized he was still clutching his phone, and quickly handed it back. 

_ Thanks _

**You** : I feel guilty obviously. I know it’s not my fault, but I did kind of ruin my mom’s dreams. 

“No, you fucking didn’t. She loves you. Come on,” he patted Red’s arm, “you turned out pretty great for an accident. I’m sure she has no regrets.”

_ I know. She said the same. _

**You** : You wanna see your surprise now?

“Oh shit, true! You told me you’ve got news, right?”

Red gestured for him to follow as he went to put the laptop back on the table and paused the music. After clicking on a folder icon, a few video files popped up, all named after Red’s team plus Murkrow and Alakazam.

_ Choose _

“Umm…Lapras.”

The first few seconds were just Lapras looking pretty in what Blue assumed was one of Mt. Silver’s lakes. The camera soared above, circling around to a pair of hands scrubbing Lapras’ shell with a soft sponge. A few bullet points showed up on the screen, explaining what brushes and soaps you could use and reminding you to pay attention to the crevices and always check for shell rot. The scene faded into a transition slide with a big exclamation point, warning to be gentle, since the shell still had some nerve endings. The video then cut to Lapras masterfully catching a Goldeen and swimming back to shore for a seaweed snack, with the text listing what nutrients are key and what foods contain them. Then Lapras was obediently lifting his fins with arrows on screen showing potential hotspots for bacterial build-up or attachment of leeches. The video ended with Lapras smiling sweetly at the camera, as the human hand gently scratched behind the shells of his ears. 

It was no longer than five minutes, but the essential information was clearly presented and concise.

“Holy shit, this is perfect!” He could barely contain his elation, hands instinctively going up to lightly drum on Red’s shoulder. Those things would save him days of research! Red grinned back proudly, revelling in the praise. 

“Can I see the other ones?”

**You** : Of course, they’re all for your club. Let me know if you notice anything interesting.

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, immediately riling up Blue’s competitive spirit. 

“Bitch, you’re on!” His excitement ceased when deep-set memories of childhood trauma emerged. “Wait. Please tell me you’re not GioGio-posing again?! Fuck’s sake, this is why we don’t have any normal pictures after kindergarten, you ruined them all! You know you can’t show yourself, people’ll go nuts…Oh, shit, did you make the Pokemon pose?! I fucking swear to Arceus, Red, if I see Alakazam…” he stopped his angry tirade, slightly worried about his rival, who was curled up and shaking on the futon. “Hey, shit, sorry,” he reached out to straighten Red’s twitching form, only to find him hysterically laughing with tears in his eyes.

The stupid bug eyes that were now glistening  _ and  _ fucking staring at him. 

Nope. Definitely weird to be hovering over your beaming nemesis. On a damn bed. 

“You’re such a little shit,” he grumbled, slapping Red’s head with his stupid cap and retreating to sit at a safer distance. He could hear shuffling and more tiny huffs as Red also got back up. 

**You** : You’re brilliant! How did I not think of that?! My new goal in life is to make Alakazam GioGio pose!

Blue made the rational decision to ignore the folly around him and moved on to the next file. 

The videos were a godsend. Educational, entertaining, and quite picturesque even. He could only judge the quality of information for Blastoise and Alakazam, but those included stuff most people overlooked, so he assumed that was true for all of them. 

The only thing he couldn’t figure out was whatever Red was on about.

“Can’t see your face anywhere. Checked the water reflections too. Locations are nondescript enough. No posing, thank fucking God…I don’t get it.”

**You** : Noticed anything about the camerawork?

“It was pretty good, so obviously not you. There were a few dynamic shots from above, so I’m guessing Alakazam helped?”

**You** : Hey, some of those were mine! And you said you like the pictures I send you.

“Yeah, fine, I do. Don’t pout.”

Red, pouting, opened up the Alakazam video again and skipped to the instructions for head massages against migraines. There were two hands on Alakazam’s temples, yet the camera was still moving. He couldn’t imagine any of Red’s Pokemon holding the phone. Maybe Pikachu, but she was way too short for that angle.

“Sooo? Alakazam was levitating it?”

Red shook his head.

“Damn, did you stick the phone into Murkrow’s beak or something?”

Another no. 

“Fine. What is it?”

Red pointed to Mewtwo’s ball. 

No.

No way.

“Are you serious?!”

Grinning nod. 

“Holy shit?! How??? Did you bribe it with food?”

**You** : It came out to eat while I was still planning things. I was thinking of asking Alakazam but then I got a vision of Mewtwo hovering with the phone and it was looking at me! Of course I said yes!

“What exactly did it do?”

**You** : All shots where my hands were busy. Super convenient too because it flies and has an eye for this stuff.

“Didn’t try to escape? No funny business?”

Shake.

“Damn. So what now? It wants to be a cameraman? No more slashing people? Are you free to go?”

Red’s brows furrowed at the question, his excitement visibly dropping.

**You** : I don’t know. It listened to my thoughts for directions and left right after filming. It’s still ignoring me. I think it’s communicating with Alakazam but he’s not telling me anything.

Sounded like his Pokemon. 

“Yeah, he won’t say jack unless he wants to. It’s a dead end, trust me.” The whole situation was even more confusing now. “Any clue what that was all about then?”

Another shake. 

**You** : It’s progress for sure! Just need to figure out what it means. Maybe we could shoot more videos? I’ll think about it when it comes out again and see how it reacts.

“With what Pokemon? I can’t access your storage. You’ll have to come down.”

**You** : I can catch some from here. I’ve observed them for years, that should be enough info.

Red’s drive was admirable, but they both saw it was a stretch. In addition to compiling strategies, training a Pokemon meant both accounting for the strain of extensive battling and finding ways to compensate for whisking it out of its natural habitat. The things it might be missing only became apparent after enough time working together. 

“You know very well it doesn’t work like that.”

**You** : You’re forgetting you’re in the presence of raw talent.

The cocky smirk was a good look, but it couldn’t really hide that Red was grasping at straws here. Blue was swiftly brought back to the reality of his own ineptness. He was the smart one, goddammit—he should’ve solved this Mewtwo shit already. 

Yeah, Red often got himself into trouble, be it ditching school to stalk a Butterfree or asking grouchy older brats his trademark random questions. But Blue always got there in time to fix whatever the mess was and pacify whomever Red had managed to piss off. This time, the mess had been dragging on for months and he only had more questions instead of all the answers. 

He simmered in silence for a while, until it started clawing at the inside of his skull. Pressing a few buttons on the laptop onset the first notes of Red’s favourite shot of depresso espresso. 

“Fits the mood.”

Red ignored his jab and closed his eyes, savouring the melody. It was now Blue’s turn to stare. Which was a weird thing to do, so he desperately tried to think of something that’d get that unusual and highly distracting serene grace off of his rival’s features without ruining the fragile ambiance. 

“What’s this one called?”

**You** : Lipinski’s caprice 1

Even the title of the thing was boring, but Blue decided he wasn’t feeling a musical debate. Instead, he laid back and let Lipinski carry him away on the wings of melodrama. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll start expalining the references from now on, (hopefully) not in too much detail. Google if you're curious about anything.
> 
> Helix cult: reference to the 2014 phenomenon Twitch Plays Pokemon. It did sort of start its own religion, with the Helix fossil from first gen being the holy bringer of anarchy and Zapdos - one of its prophets.  
> GioGio - a reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, a very popular shounen manga. GioGio is a pun of the 5th part MC's name. The part is called "Golden Wind" and was being released during the same time as Pokemon's first gen. Jojo posing is an actual thing, where people imitate over-the-top action poses the characters do.  
> La Campanella (the violin version by Paganini) and Lipinski’s caprice 1 (op.29) - both real violin pieces. Lipinsky's is also really dynamic, but it does have a sadder tone. Also, Paganini and Lipinsky were contemporaries. I won't bore you with 19th century virtuoso tea, but it suffices to say they had an interesting relationship. 
> 
> Sorry if Red's mom's story felt like an info dump. In my experience though, if people choose to tell you about their mommy/daddy issues, they don't beat around the bush. I also really wanted to give her some character. I imagined the quartet she was part of to be something like the band Bond. They're really cool, check them out if you happen to be into pop/rock violin.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

Ten hours spent cleaning the neglected house, all gone to waste. Daisy wasn’t coming back for summer break. She’d delayed her return by a few days, then by a week, now she was saying something about a part-time job.

Whatever. He had shit to do anyway. The individual performance reports for the training camp weren’t gonna write themselves.

He really did start. Before getting a bit side-tracked. Umbreon’s judgemental gaze was burning holes into his back. Oh, come on, he was just checking in on things. Sometimes the stuff on fuckblueoak.moc and hellmidget.blogspat.moc were really funny.

A good chunk of the (rather creative) death threats were probably from his own club members. The detailed analysis of their flawed, in some cases downright nonsensical strategies, had not been received with the gratitude he’d anticipated. Fucking crybabies. 

“Ugh,  _ fine _ .”

After forfeiting the staring match with Umbreon, he closed the tabs and returned to glaring at the text doc. Trying to sugarcoat mediocrity wasn’t Blue’s forte, but if he witnessed even one more teary breakdown, he was gonna shut the club down and let those inept assholes fend for themselves. Fucking giving up his own gym’s space for their training, staying up nights on end to research their Pokemon, organising a whole-ass week of practice drills to fix their pathetic strategies and for what? Immature, weepy shitbrains. The hell did they expect from a training camp? To braid each other’s hair and soak up the sunshine? As if they didn’t slack off enough during club meetings.

Yeah, he was not in the mood to be nice right now. Exiting the text doc, again, he opened up ViewCube to check if Red’s videos had uploaded already. 5/8.

Blue’s own guides were “way too complicated,” according to everyone, including Leaf (traitor!). He’d just made sure they were thorough—it wasn’t his problem if those fuckwits had the processing prowess of amoebae.

And, of course, Red had once again beaten him, even at teaching Blue’s own dumbass club members. Whatever. At least no one was aware of it this time.

Speaking of the devil, there was a message on Blue’s phone. A picture of Red’s newest team member, Larvitar, angelically smiling on top of her third smashed newspaper table. Another picture followed, this time a pair of chewed bathhouse cave slippers.

**You** : ur doing great, sweetie

**Tweedledumb** : Pokemon like me, why is she like this?

**You** : not every pkmn under the sun is gonna kiss the ground u walk on

**You** : just catch another one or sth

**Tweedledumb** : She chose me as a trainer and she’s making really good progress with code training. There’s still hope!

**You** : lmao aite, lets see if u have any shoes left by the time she evolves

**You** : lizzie still on a hunger strike?

**Tweedledumb** : Yeah. I tried apologising in my head, in GSL, and in Morse. Still nothing. 

At Mewtwo’s feeding a few days ago, the fleeting thought that the naked rat was looking a bit fuller had crossed Red’s mind. Mewtwo had not come out to eat since.

Red was having a really tough week.

**You** : u want me to come?

**Tweedledumb** : Don’t you have the NLC briefing tomorrow?

**You** : not that important, its just with the kanto pps. besides ive only been a leader for a few months no one will take me thaaat srsly

**Tweedledumb** : First, you’ve been a champion for two years. Second, don’t even try, I know how hyped you are about this. Third, your ideas are amazing. I really hope the camera thing gets approved.

Blue was pretty proud of that one. Fund more security cameras in low-income neighbourhoods, more households can safely participate in the “open doors for trainers” campaign and thus the tax cuts from it can go to people who actually need it.

**Tweedledumb** : Also please ask about any developments with Team Rocket in Johto.

**Tweedledumb** : Should I try to go down there and help? Maybe take Mewtwo with me?

**You** : great idea, take it for a spin with the drug gangs as well, while ur at it, sure that’s bound to end dandy

**Tweedledumb** : Maybe I can leave it here? Doesn’t want to come out anyway…

**You** : ??? u do realise it can yeet the mmnt u leave rite?

**Tweedledumb** : It could do that anyway honestly. The team and I can’t be on guard 24/7 and it’s not like we can outspeed it either.

**You** : it still hasn’t so what does that tell u genius?

**Tweedledumb** : It doesn’t hate my guts?

**You** : there we go. can’t believe a legendary is throwing a fkn temper tantrum. highly doubt it’s the chunky thing either. u can’t just leave it tho we’ve spent so much time on this on ur insistence mind u don’t let it go to waste bc some rocket grunts are dicking arnd

**You** : besides those johto kids r doing fine

**Tweedledumb** : They’re 10!!

**You** : and how old were u when u took down giovanni????

**Tweedledumb** : 11!

**You** : truly a world of difference

**You** : stay on ur ass. ill go if it gets out of control but dis aint ur fight

**Tweedledumb** : Fine.

Blue could easily imagine the pout through which this was typed.

***

Summer in Saffron. Heat, humidity, and heaps of sweaty humans.

At least the conference hall had AC.

Blue sped through his presentation, hoping the briefing wouldn’t take too long. But it did. All the gym leaders and Elite Fours had something of their own to throw into the hollows and dells of endless discussions.

And of course Erika had to chip in. Only a year older than him, yet already carrying herself like an adult. The clothes didn’t hurt either, but who the hell went around in a full-ass kimono? In summer?! At least wear a yukata or something, holy fuck. He had to look at her when she spoke, he had damn manners! Even if it meant the possible return of certain agonisingly lurid dreams. But this was real life and he had shit to do that didn’t involve fantasies of her face smirking and morphing into someone else’s. At least she didn’t call him “master”. They did have eerily similar features though. Blue would’ve asked if her father happened to be an irresponsible army jackass, if he hadn’t been too busy utterly failing to control his treacherous circulation. The geisha getup was not helping. At all.

Clutching the AC remote, Blue smashed the down button yet again. Lance gave him a weird look. He glared back long enough to make the bastard return to furiously scribbling down notes. Damn right! If the Elite Four fucked up the Kanto division’s final presentation just because stupid Johto was all the rage right now, Blue and all other gym leaders were gonna make the next five years hell for Lancy and Co. 

He had to bring up Johto, though. He had promised to ask.

“By the way, how’s Team Rocket being dealt with?”

Bruno’s booming roar almost made him jump.

“Those wimps? Getting their asses kicked by a bunch of ten-year-olds, that’s how.”

Karen seemed amused by her colleague’s lack of manners. “It’s obviously a cry for attention. They were never big on efficiency, but at least the hierarchy with Giovanni on top gave them some structure. They just can’t let go of the golden age of mafia,” she sighed wistfully.

Koga nodded. “All the weaponry and money they’d gathered post-war was confiscated. There were some offshore accounts that couldn’t be directly linked. I’m guessing they’re running on those now. But with their lackluster training, they’re more bark than bite. Great for giving new talent some confidence.”

Lance was listening in while finishing up his notes. “I agree. The biggest scare after we took down the hideout was the Radio Tower ruckus, but the kids arrived right on time. I heard Lyra caught Ho-Oh, and the roaming beasts are appearing to Gold, so they should be fine if anything else comes.”

Great, more kids catching gods. Blue really needed to get with the program.

“Ohohoho, can’t wait to have them at the Plateau,” Will chimed. “I’ve always wanted to see a legendary in action!”

“Ha, not like you can see much through that mask,” Karen spat out.

“Yeah, you sure look a lot prettier when I have it on,” Will said with a sweet smile.

“As exciting as it is,” Lance loudly interrupted their bickering, “this sudden re-emergence of legendaries is slightly concerning. First Hoenn, now Johto. I wonder if they’re sensing something.”

“I don’t think so,” Karen was quick to counter. “Conclusive evidence about legendaries was only drawn in the last few decades. Until then the only thing we had were myths and vague stories of sightings. Hell, some people even believed in humanoid deities. Modern science brought lunatics like those in Hoenn who know legendaries exist and even know how to look for them. Legendary hunting sounds fun, but I don’t think that type of research should’ve been published.”

“So, what?” Will’s cocky smile was gone. “Screw scientific progress because of a few nutjobs? Legendaries are vastly intelligent—even if someone summons them, they can judge the character of a trainer. Unlike you, they care about personality. And what about the ones in Johto? You think those kids were walking around reading research papers? They were chosen and it’s beautiful! Why do you always have to be so cynical?! We get it, Miss Mafia Princess didn’t have a childhood, but let others enjoy life!”

“Aw, is your corset on too tight, whiz boy? Go sniff some hair dye.”

“That’s it? Are you done? Gonna roll over and pass out like usual?”

Blue remembered some of the trainer gossip Red spewed being about those two, but this spectacle was beyond inappropriate. No wonder the League was in decline if those two were what passed for professionals. The other gym leaders looked in varying degrees of used to this shit, some of them tuning out, others about to bring out the popcorn. But Blue was tired and in no mood for theatrics.

“Get a damn room! Lance, this is bullshit—I don’t give a rat’s ass about your puppets’ drama and this sure ain’t about the NLC anymore. Can we go already? We’ve been here for hours!”

“Sheesh, kid, puberty sure is doing a number on ya. Don’t remember you being such a buzzkill.” Karen’s jeer was greeted with Blue’s hundredth glare of the day. Lance cleared his throat with a pointed look at her before nodding.

“You’re right, Blue, we should wrap up. Okay, guys, that’s all for today. Please confirm the details of your flights to Petalburg as soon as possible. I’ve already sent emails with instructions. If you have any questions or flight requests, just email back.”

Blue was out the door first but, of course, he had no idea how to get to that restaurant Leaf had recommended. He’d texted her all through the meeting to bitch about his boredom and Daisy ignoring him. Seriously, what was she doing? He’d said he’d be in town early in the morning but it was almost dinnertime and there was still no response.

“Oh, shut up,” he yelled at his stupid Maps app, which had started spewing directions out loud totally unprompted.

“Are you also headed to Celadon? We’ll be taking the same train then.” It was Erika, the bane of his day, smiling politely in her extra-ass outfit. Someone oughta tell this girl the Edo period ended two centuries ago.

“Nah, I was just checking out a place. I’ll be staying in Saffron,” he said, aimlessly tapping the screen. He wasn’t that hungry anyway. And Daisy’s place was close. She always had food stocked and he could use a nap. He had a futon there. Yeah, in fact, he might as well spend the night here; he was too drained to fly back and train stations were still a nightmare this close after rush hour.

“Hmm, okay. Do visit that restaurant, though. They have great dak-galbi.”

“Yeah, my sister is a fan, but she’s ignoring me, so I guess I’ll try it another day.”

Erika tilted her head, before smiling brightly. “I could go with you, I love their food. I know a great shaved ice place as well, if you feel like dessert.”

She was so sweet, Blue’s teeth started to ache. Some people would really go far for the sake of politeness. Or maybe she just pitied him. Whatever it was, her mere presence was causing an annoying bloodrush to his face that he did not need in this already unbearable weather. Going back to staring at his phone, he mumbled, “Nah, I’m too tired anyway, this briefing was anything but brief.”

His vision was starting to blur from the screen’s brightness by the time she answered in her soft voice. “Well, okay then. I’ll see you at Petalburg.”

“Smell ya later,” he murmured, eyes firmly glued to the screen.

A few minutes later the coast was cleared of any pale black-haired geisha. Daisy’s apartment was in the same ward, a brisk 20-minute walk away. The lingering daylight heat was still far from pleasant, so he hurriedly made his way through the crowds, uncaring if he bumped into a pedestrian or two.

There was still no response after a brief stop at a gelateria on the way. She hadn’t picked up any of his calls by the time he reached her apartment complex. Maybe she’d lost her phone? Hopefully, she was home—it would be nice to check in with her.

The doorbell remained unanswered after the third ring. To be fair, it was still early, so she might just be out with friends or at her part-time job, whatever that was. No need for concern yet, though he was worried about the rapidly melting gelato. After a short internal debate, he pulled out his keys and shuffled to the spare to her apartment he’d been trusted with. It kinda sucked that he’d missed her yet again. She was always busy these days, even when on vacation. The least he could do was make sure she’d come home to some good ice cream.

The air in the small one-bedroom was stuffy and the blinds were completely shut. After switching the lights on, he needed a hot second to take in the whole picture. It wasn’t that messy, but definitely a pig sty by Daisy standards. The small kitchen counter was overflowing with stacks of takeout coffee cups and rinsed convenience store bento boxes. There was an almost-finished jar of instant coffee. Daisy? A total foodie and coffee snob sustaining herself on this shit?

From what he could see beyond the entryway, her desk was an explosion of paper and binders and her bed looked unmade. He felt the urge to clean up a bit, but didn’t want to touch her stuff without permission. Yeah, better just leave the ice cream and shoot a quick text that he’d stopped by. Maybe tease her a bit about the mess but nothing too harsh. He’d seen enough to know she was truly embracing the stressed student life.

The small fridge was right next to the tiny shoe area, so he stretched a bit and shoved the ice cream in the empty freezer compartment. Going back up, he saw a clear file, likely forgotten on top of the fridge. He would’ve completely ignored it if not for the bold red checkmarks on top of a printed photograph that caught his eye. The picture seemed vaguely familiar, but it took him a while to recognize it with so many scribbles in the margins and on the image itself. A group of around thirty people in front of some building’s stairs. More than half of the faces had those big red checkmarks, five had black crosses and a few were left free. One of which was their father, squinting in the corner.

Blue grabbed the file without thinking and stared at the photo. He’d seen it before, of course. Aside from his parents’ wedding, there were very few images of his dad as an adult. The only pictures they had in the house were in old albums, collecting dust inside forgotten drawers. He hadn’t looked at them in a while. People always said he’d gotten his dad’s features and his mom’s colouring. 

The scribbles next to their father read  _ Neuroscience, PI _ . The rest of the faces were labelled with names and positions. The folder felt thick, so he was immediately over the moon about possibly holding their father’s research. Gramps, one of the very few who still had access to it, had firmly dismissed Blue’s pleas to take a peek. He had no idea how Daisy could’ve gotten her hands on it, but he wasn’t about to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth.

He hurriedly browsed through the first few sheets, excitement falling with each consecutive page. It was just webpage printouts of university staff members. Still with his shoes on, he kneeled on the narrow hallway’s floor and laid out the first few prints next to the photo. The faces in it were unrecognisable under the checkmarks, but the names matched. The dates of tenure and listed publications were recent. Why would Daisy be stalking dad’s colleagues? He took out the next few pages and most of the names were there, except the crossed-out-faces and maybe three-four others. And their dad, of course.

The next page was just a random article about a bar fight gone wrong all the way up in Veilstone, Sinnoh. After that was a sheet with Saffron County’s Medical Examiner logo and a bunch of stamps. An autopsy report with their father’s name on it. The age and description of physical characteristics matched. The time of death was correct as well. What couldn’t be correct was  _ Inert gas asphyxiation _ .

He skimmed the paper but the convoluted medical lingo and blood CO-haemoglobin charts only confirmed the pathologic diagnosis. Upon another check, the name was still the same. Probably just a coincidence. Their dad had died of his wounds, in a hospital. If there had been a fatal gas leak the whole nation, along with Blue, would surely know about it. Staring at the document didn’t yield any more answers, so he put the sheet down and moved on the next series of files in search of the pictures referenced in the report.

More pictures, but not from an autopsy. The series of photos started with a toolbox on a messy desk. Next were a shut bathroom door, a close up of a water heater, and a copy of some book in Kalosian on a dry bathroom floor.  _ The Myth of _ something. He hadn’t studied that word.

Then there was the body. Fully clothed, curled in an empty bathtub. Dark hair framing familiar features. Eyes shut, mouth open. The skin gave it away. Crimson red, like a bad sunburn. Just like it said in the autopsy.

Swallowing the taste of bile, he reached for the folder again. News articles mentioning the “car crash” with brief 1-2 sentence remarks highlighted. Their dad’s family registry entry.

The final page. A death certificate. Same name, matching info. Same conclusion as Blue. Manner of death: suicide.

He grabbed the picture again, inspecting every miniscule detail until the convulsions in his stomach threatened to burst him open. He had to shut his eyes, focus on breathing, and get some control over his guts back. Head between the knees and deep breaths. In and out.

Strangely, his head seemed to be doing fine. Was he supposed to be angry? Sad? Confused? He just felt nauseated.

A buzzing on his leg startled him. His phone.

**Sis** : I’m so sorry! My phone was muted. I was out of town, but I’m on the train back to Saffron now. Are you still there?

Blue suddenly realised he was in her apartment without permission, sitting in an explosion of papers that were most definitely not meant for his eyes. He hurriedly started putting everything back, trying to arrange the documents in the same order without having to look at the things too much. Wait, if she was still on the train, he had at least an hour. Or not. She didn’t say where she was coming from. After a short internal debate, he snapped a photo of the picture with all the names. He’d have to do some of his own digging later.

**You** : back home already. ill see u some other time 

The file was put back in its place, the ice cream taken out of the freezer and hurled into the nearest public rubbish bin. Although he was not in the mood for flying all the way back to Pallet, it was better than running into Daisy at the station. He’d had enough strokes of bad luck to know when not to take chances.

***

Busying himself with all the things on his plate did not stop the constant inner strife about what he was supposed to be feeling. All he came up with was guilt for the lack of any other emotion. Was he an apathetic monster or just a horrible son? Or was he supposed to blame him for leaving them? He had no idea about the actual circumstances, so he couldn’t exactly feel the impact. And although this was his father, aside from his profession and love of yakiniku, Blue knew nothing about the man. How was he supposed to mourn someone he’d never known? At least with their mom, he had stories about her, some annotated books, he’d even watched a few of her Pokemon grow old. Little pieces that added up to some sort of image. Nothing of the sort about his dad. Gramps never talked about him and Daisy only had vague memories about how busy he’d always been. Or so she said.

Blue wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. Gramps not telling him, although infuriating, was nothing new, but Daisy? How long had she known? He wanted to think she’d found out recently. Maybe that’s what all the fighting had been about. But in this context, all her paranoia about him disappearing after the Championship suddenly made a lot more sense. Had she actually thought that…? Could this kind of thing even be hereditary? Almost everyone had at least one, sometimes several close or distant relatives who’d taken that choice but it wasn’t something people talked about.

And what was Daisy’s role in this? She’d been seven when it happened, but from the looks of the pictures it was probably in their parent’s old apartment in Celadon. Certainly not in the house. They’d both already moved here while their father was “in the hospital”. If gramps had managed to bury this so deeply, maybe he’d lied to Daisy as well.

He decided to wait and give her the benefit of the doubt for now. Maybe she was waiting for the right moment to tell him. It was certainly not an easy conversation to have. Which was why every time he saw gramps, he had to swallow the urge to yell at him, or throw something at him, or be cold and calculating and find a way to lure him into spewing all the things he was hiding. He did none of that. Instead, in the rare instances he saw the man, Blue froze up for then mumbled something to get away. Not that far from his usual behaviour, actually. He just couldn’t deal with gramps’ bullshit right now. Nothing in the Oak household could get solved through simply being honest with each other—there always had to be mind games and running in circles.

It took a few days to finally sit down and attempt to find out whatever he could about the names in that picture. There was absolutely nothing about the research they’d done with his father. Everything, including anyone’s involvement with it was completely wiped. At least the meaning behind the red checkmarks became very clear. Aside from some same-name mishaps, those people were all easily traceable: place of work, publications, even spouses and children in some cases, if they had public social media profiles.

As for the rest, he couldn’t find a thing. There were some people with the same names, but they didn’t seem to be working anything remotely science-related. One of the unmarked faces did kind of look similar to a bartender in Hoenn who appeared on the place’s LookBook page, but it was a stretch. And what about their mother’s death? The car crash was mentioned in a short article about gramps dated almost a year later and that was it. Maybe her death was part of the cover-up, who knew at this point?

After a quick check, he found out there was no way for him to get either of his parents’ autopsies, family registry entries, or anything of that sort as a minor. Other people’s were completely off-limits, so using one of his of-age club members was not an option either. Hours and hours of internet searches yielded nothing about the nine remaining scientists. Trying to find relatives was even more of a long shot and he had no intention of seeking out the red check marks to pester them about their possibly deceased or missing colleagues. This was looking out to be yet another item on top of the growing pile of shit he was too incompetent to solve.

He had to give up somewhere in the middle of the night when the feeling that his whole world’s foundations were shaking became quite literal. His phone started buzzing with government alerts and he sat under the desk to wait it out. Earthquakes weren’t that unusual but this one was expected to be a beast. It lasted for more than ten minutes with the aftershocks. Shit was falling all over his room and there was the distinct sound of glass breaking from somewhere. The house was earthquake proof, furniture and all, probably just some stray glass on the dish rack but it didn’t do wonders for his mood.

The text from Daisy asking if he was okay came right away, accompanied by an unexpectedly bitter taste in his mouth as he answered. He’d already decided against confrontations for now, but a gut feeling told him she’d known for a long time. Whatever, that was future Blue’s problem. Present Blue had a mess to clean.

Just as he was starting on the living room, another text came in, this time from Red. Mewtwo’s ball bouncing up and down had prompted it to come out, just to go right back inside once the earthquake was over, despite Red screaming apologies in his head.

At this point Blue had had enough of his panicking. Alakazam was home, for once, and hopefully not asleep, so he smashed the button on his ball.

“You’re sort of friends with lizzie, right? And you must’ve peeked inside its mind. Is it actually body-conscious or is Red going crazy up there?”

That reaction was the closest thing to a chuckle Blue’d ever seen from his Pokemon.

“So, whatever’s happening, it’s not about Mewtwo being offended?”

Alakazam seemed contemplative for a few seconds, before giving a very elaborate answer in the form of a shrug.

“Okay, but if it is offended, it’s not about Red thinking it’s chunky, right?”

A confirmative nod, albeit with a slightly mocking smile.

“Thank you.”

Alakazam went to explore the messed up house just as Blue was passing along the info.

**Tweedledumb** : Then what is it? What did I do??

**You** : do u think it can read ur mind from inside the ball or only outside?

**Tweedledumb** : Only on the outside. I think. I don’t know.

**You** : aite, let’s go with that. what exactly were u thinking? besides that it’s fluffy

**Tweedledumb** : I just saw it and I started thinking how it looks different than back in Cerulean. I’d noticed before, though, so I don’t know what went wrong this time.

**You** : okay did u think anything about it in the cave? maybe ur battle with it?

**Tweedledumb** : I wasn’t thinking of battling. I guess I wondered what it ate back then? There were no candy wrappers anywhere. Not many Pokemon either.

**You** : do u rmmbr when exactly it started glaring at u

**Tweedledumb** : How am I supposed to remember when exactly during my inner thought process it got offended?

**Tweedledumb** : I’m getting so tired of this.

**You** : do u actually want to come down? u know telling the police is always an option. 

**Tweedledumb** : We’ve had this conversation so many times. You know what’ll happen if they get to it.

**Tweedledumb** : I’m just getting antsy here. I’ll be fine. You were right. We’ve wasted too much time on this to drop it now.

**You** : u want me to come over?

**Tweedledumb** : Nah, don’t worry. Your flight’s in two days. Finish cleaning and get your notes in order. And get the espionage gear.

**You** : ffs im not stalking karen and will for u

**Tweedledumb** : No sense of adventure.

**You** : ur insane and i gotta clean

**Tweedledumb** : At least tell me if they look like they’re back together.

**Tweedledumb** : And definitely tell me if they come for breakfast at the same time.

**You** : read 2 chapters of each of my textbooks, send pics of ur notes and ill think abt it

**Tweedledumb** : Deal.

He kept staring at the screen, fingers on keyboard, until enough time had passed that Red was surely back off the grid. Another missed chance to tell him. He really got the relevancy thing now. He hadn’t told Skyla or Elesa either. What was there to say even? His dad was not coming back either way. And Blue was still cracking jokes and being his usual annoying self. They’d probably be weirded out by how normal he was acting. He almost wished he was devastated, bawling his eyes out on the floor, or fuming and screaming at gramps for all those years of lies, or at least being like Daisy, in detective mode and searching for answers. Maybe if he just asked her? But he wanted to know if she’d tell him first. She had to.

Another loud push notification on his phone almost caused him to drop the dust pan full of broken glass.

[URGENT ALERT: CINNABAR + VICINITY - EARTHQUAKE, UNDETERMINED VOLCANIC ACTIVITY; CHANCE OF COMPULSORY EVACUATION]

This night really couldn’t get any better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was a heavy chater. Originally 13k+ but I decided to split. Good news is, the next chapter will be here soon. 
> 
> Found an awesome beta to help with this mess (yay fixed punctuation and vocab brainfarts). Rewrote some parts. Only major one is Blue and Leaf's reunion at school in ch9. Fixed the injustice to her character that was past me glancing over this. Another thing - awesome beta alerted me to a lot more jp-typical things I've put in than I thought. To make it worse, for some things I use rl jp as blueprints, for others, I completely flip it around for Pokemon Universe purposes. All makes sense in my brain but maybe not in the story, so feel free to ask if anything comes off weird.


	12. Chapter 12

Just smoke. For now. Turns out that particular volcano had been growling for months and with the recent earthquake, scientists were keeping an even closer eye on it. Some of them outright urged the people of Cinnabar to evacuate. None of them really said anything about when a dangerous eruption could happen. Could be days, could be months, or this could all be a false alarm. Apparently, volcanoes were near impossible to predict. The speculations put the whole nation on high alert, forcing the military to quickly put together precautionary measures. Blaine closed his Gym for visitors and the NLC was postponed, letting the Kanto leaders stay in their region until the volcano calmed down.

In the following emergency League meetings, Blue voted for organising volunteer response teams, just in case, and signed up to join them right away, despite the start of school and the work hours he still had to clock in. Keeping busy was better than stewing in muddled apathy.

A week went by, in which theorising about the hypothetical explosion grew so extensive, Blue was eager for the damn thing to either stop spewing ash or pop already. Thankfully, the Johto kids swooped in to dissipate public anxiety with Championship battles that’d be analysed for years. First, the cocky, dark-haired boy Gold demolished the Elite Four and nearly breezed through Lance as well, emerging victorious with only three fainted Pokemon. Just before he’d signed the title-release forms though, a blue-haired girl marched into the Challenger chamber and boldly took on the new Champion. The TV commentators immediately snooped out that this was in fact Gold’s sister – Crystal, who’d gotten the badges years ago, beaten the Elite Four while her little brother was gloating, and was now here to take the crown.

Blue couldn’t help but feel for the lad. It was one thing having your childhood rival steal your title, but he couldn’t even imagine what it’d be like if it was Daisy whooping his ass on national TV. To his credit, Gold took it well for a kid, quickly shaking off the disappointment and running to tease his sister in the post-battle interviews, though Blue didn’t stay up to watch them. He had precious sleep to catch up on. .

A good choice in hindsight. Two days later, Cinnabar island finally erupted with plumes of black smoke and fuming lava fountains that split the sky and guided the evacuation boats like a sizzling lighthouse. Despite the ground shaking underneath their feet and the heat from the fires burning into the distance, the volunteers, together with Blaine’s people and the military, got all 11000 residents and their Pokemon onto the boats and back to the main island.

The evacuees were temporarily housed at schools and gyms, until more suitable shelters were set up. Smaller explosions and tremors resumed for a few more days, in which Blue and Blastoise were allowed to help the firefighters on the isle with Misty and Blaine. Once forced to go back, he immediately signed up with the Headquarters for Disaster Countermeasures. Unfortunately, the first thing he was assigned to was fundraising duty.

Battling for charity, he could handle, but fake laughing on variety shows while playing criminally idiotic games almost drove him to exploding worse than the volcano that’d put them in this shit in the first place. Every time he felt his eyelid twitch at the exaggerated high-pitched screams of Lt. Surge, or Arceus forbid – that bubbly laugh of Erika’s, he played the image of the burning isle in his head, quickly remembering that all the money for building shelters, cleaning up, and compensating for the loss of homes and income had to come from somewhere.

Fitting fundraisers in his already bursting schedule felt a little like deranged Houndooms were tearing him up limb from limb. Yet, the strain was such a high – swiftly moving from one task to the next, with optimal efficiency and no room for complaints, left him a pleasantly numb shell that did not possess the free time or energy to overthink shit. 

Gradually, he found a rhythm that sort of worked, even if he had to sacrifice a bit of studying and a lot of sleep. Charity exhibition matches and fan meetings took over his afternoons and weekends until about a month later when, after another mild series of earthquakes, Cinnabar was finally deemed safe for clean-up crews to start working.

Blue immediately jumped the fundraising ship. His new role was technically supposed to be more about managing the Janine, Misty, and Erika teams from the office[1] , but they were so understaffed, he had to get his hands dirty on-site as well.

Once there, things were going less than dandy. The ash deposits were…a lot. At least they could be dealt with by the Poison and Water teams. It was a slow, draining, and repetitive process, but possible, nonetheless. Brock was also there to help with the PokeCentre reconstruction and hopefully start on the residential buildings once the ash was mostly cleaned up.

The problem was the soil. For the past month, no one but a handful of scientists had been allowed on site. Through this time, lava had been sterilizing Cinnabar’s fertile arable land from any organic matter it possessed. Erika and Janine’s teams were capable enough to mitigate the damage, but after more groups of scientists had come to take samples, artificial fertilisation had been deemed too dangerous for the isle’s ecological balance.

To make matters worse, a leak from the volunteer teams alerted the media about this before the ministry could come up with an official statement. The news was misinterpreted and blown out of proportion in dramatic headlines that created country-wide dissatisfaction with Nippon’s disaster countermeasures acts. Such pressure on the government, meant more pressure on the clean-up teams to get done with their shit asap, so that Cinnabar could be reopened, at least for tourism, to bring back some of the lost revenue and pacify the angry masses.

After the leak, things with their contracts had to get tighter, but Blue should’ve known that following his non-disclosure agreement would not play well with a certain mountain man who only got his info from the disastrous media coverage.

**Tweedledumb** : I should be down there helping. Mewtwo will probably stay in anyway.

**You** : no point risking. can’t say much but it’s rly not as bad as it seems trust me. we already have enough volunteers and u’ll just cause more chaos

**Tweedledumb** : What’s that supposed to mean?

**You** : u rly think u’ll be of any help with the press and groupies chasing u here? honestly, u’ll prolly be stuck in fundraising and somehow i don’t see u on a variety show lol. sit still, the rest of us can handle this

**Tweedledumb** : Yeah, keep being useless. Got it.

**You** : oh ffs what do u want me to say? there’s nothing u can rly do that we don’t have ppl for. and besides what? mw2 breaking out only becomes a risk when it suits ur mood? don’t be a baby, either turn it in with the cops and come down to be a hero till u have public adoration bursting out of ur ass or sit the fk down. 

It was the truth and Blue was right but that didn’t make him feel less like a piece of shit. He wasn’t the one stuck on that mountain and Red didn’t deserve to be lashed out on. Time for damage control.

**You** : look if u rly wanna help, text ur mom. tell her to donate some of ur merch royalties. im 99.9% sure it’s all still lying in those uni funds she and daisy set up

Another long minute passed before an answer finally arrived.

**Tweedledumb** : How’s that different than telling her to pay you back?

**You** : u shitting me? come on, we’ve talked abt this. 1. i don’t want u to pay me back 2. u’d be telling her u’ve seen me since u left and i’d be the asshole for keeping quiet all this time. make her donate in ur name and it’d be like a public announcement that ur alive and u still care abt kanto.

**You** : just pls stop playing dumb. i’m too tired for this rn

**Tweedledumb** : I read about you organising the volunteer teams. You must be exhausted. Sorry. I was in a mood. The police is still not an option, so you’re right, can’t risk it. Sorry.

**You** : ffs don’t say ur sorry when i’m the one being a dick. i’d be bitching a lot more if i had to sit this one out. good thing ur the cool and collected one rite? i haven’t stopped looking for solutions btw. there should be some management changes in the league and some other ministry branches, so i’m sniffing for someone we could trust to take care of this with no murder or experiments. just sit tight.

**You** : and text ur mom. u’ll make her day

**Tweedledumb** : Wait, do you mean the new champion? She’s so badass! 

**Tweedledumb** : Yeah, okay, you’ll tell me when you have something. And I’ll text mom tomorrow. Good luck at school!

**Tweedledumb** : And the gym, and the clubs, and Cinnabar.

**You** : thnx i’ll need it. again, sorry

**Tweedledumb** : I was being a bitch, you were being a dick, nothing new under the sun.

**Tweedledumb** : Though, if you could be guilt tripped, please install an autocorrect. Don’t you think it’s ironic that you’re such a perfectionist about handwriting but your texting looks like a Snorlax sat on the keyboard? Makes having serious conversations impossible.

**You** : holy fkn shit the fkn sass of u u dick

**You** : It’s called efficiency but fine. Here you go. I’ll text properly for your sissy-ass princely majesty of dickwads.

**You** : Happy now?

**Tweedledumb** : Borderline smug, to be honest.

**You** : Fucking hell, fine. At least you’re low maintenance.

**Tweedledumb** : My strongest suit.

**You** : Not fighting you on this one.

***

There was ash all over the ground, the buildings, the sky. Was it evening already? Shovel moistened ash into trash bags for long enough and you tend to lose a sense of time.

Blue’s Weezing was nowhere in sight but that asshole Brady’s Koffing was hovering close by.

“You hungry?”

The thing smiled. It looked like its owner for a while, mischievous, as if waiting for its next prank to unfold. But then it kept staring and wheezing and that smile was making Blue’s skin crawl. He swallowed thickly before mumbling “I think you’re done with filtering for today. Go find Brady or Janine—they’ll help you deposit.”

The Koffing ignored him. It looked bigger hovering right above his head. One more heavy inhale and the toothless smile widened, then narrowed, as dark gunk started spewing out of the Pokemon’s mouth.

The world turned black. He couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, his whole existence narrowed down to the itch of his skin. The stained protective goggles wouldn’t budge and the filtration mask was all clogged, glued to his face and quickly suffocating him. Sharp breaths drew nothing, as weakening hands clawed at his face.

He thrashed around until his foot slipped. Gripping air did nothing to keep his balance and soon enough he was falling. A crash into the ocean was supposed to hurt, but it didn’t. The water lifted the mask and the goggles and rinsed his lungs from the clinging ash. He wasn’t drowning, he was floating.

There was a muffled noise surrounding him and his freshy freed eyes finally saw the light of day soaring above the liquid surface. He kicked his feet, swimming towards it, with the noise booming through the water around.

As his head emerged, his lungs filled with perfumed air and his eyes instinctively closed at the burning light of the projector above.

“Mister Oak! Mister Oak! Mister Oak!” the pool of stark white lab coats cheered.

Blue gripped the edge of the bathtub and dragged himself up, pulled to the whitewashed skyline of dimmed shadows creeping from above. Pitch black goo dripped off of him as he reached the front of the stage to join gramps and dad. He didn’t want to get their lab coats dirty, but they grabbed each of his hands and tugged him into a theatrical bow.

After they got up, dad had turned to him with a warm smile, patting Blue’s filthy back. His voice rang with a clear “Mister Oak”.

“Mister Oak?”

Bright light assaulting his eyes stunned him for a few embarrassing seconds before the jeers bouncing around the classroom fully woke him up. As if Mr. Takaya’s concerned face hovering above his head wasn’t punishment enough.

“Good morning, Mister Oak. Well, it’s almost noon now. Please stay after class for a short chat.” At Blue’s meek nod, the teacher continued, “Okay, back to business, everybody. Who can name the major battles of the 100-year War of Galar?”

Blue recalled at least four particularly bloody ones, but chose to pass on answering. It wouldn’t win back any of the participation points his little siesta had cost him. The rest of the class was spent on an award-winning performance of diligent note taking, even though all he wanted to do was go home and sulk in peace. 

“Took you long enough.” Leaf pushed a tray with a beef bowl, potato salad, and miso soup towards him. At least he wasn’t going to starve for the rest of the day.

“Lifesaver. Fell asleep in history again, so Takaya kept me after class,” Blue said, sloppily mixing the meat and rice and more than eager to dig in.

“Ouch. He’s chill, but you’re really starting to push it.”

Blue just shrugged. He’d given up on scolding himself at some point during the last month of accidental cat naps. The majority of teachers were fairly understanding, so no real harm done. Leaf still didn’t look convinced.

“When did you go home last night?”

“’Round 3,” he said through a mouthful of meat before stuffing some potato in there as well. The bland cafeteria food felt like ambrosia on his neglected palate. He’d been too tired for dinner last night and besides, the food would’ve tasted like ash anyway. No time for breakfast this morning either, after hitting the snooze button one too many times. A trip to the convenience store next to the gym could’ve saved him, but a challenger had prolonged his match with potions until Blue was almost late for school. Leaf was still looking at him with a mixture of disgust and alarm, which in her language translated to concern, so he decided to elaborate. “Night shifts 'r always understaff’d,” he mumbled before swallowing and digging around with his chopsticks to inhale some rice too.

She stared at him for a while before sighing and picking up an apple slice from her own near-empty tray. “How much longer until you guys are done?”

“Month or two. After that, it’s all up to the builders to make it good for training, or at least tourism. Not my jam, so I’ll prolly be back on fundraising.”

“No, I meant how much longer until all of it is done?”

Blue shrugged again and couldn’t help but smirk through his next mouthful.

“Why? Like being in charge of the battling club a li’l too much? Don’t worry, I’ll keep you as VP, even after I’m done.”

She tried to glare at him, but it didn’t really work with the amused huff that escaped her.

“You little shit. You know I’m doing this for you, right? And for my CV, but still. Shit, if I knew how much paperwork was involved in running a school club, I would’ve never agreed to this. Though, they’re not as useless as you make them out to be.”

A pang of guilt ran through him at the mention of his clubmates. Looking back, he’d really been a little harsh on them. Leaf was by no means a doormat, but she was a lot more patient. The club still trained in his gym and, from the little he’d seen, the trainings had kept their intensity, while becoming a lot more cheerful.

“Yeah, they’re doing much better under you. Hell, maybe I should just leave you as president.”

“Oh, hell no. I might stay as VP or secretary, but you’re not putting this one on me. Besides, you’ve taught them a lot.” He looked at her sceptically from above the bowl of soup he was currently downing. “No, seriously. I mean, yeah, they’re a little intimidated when you’re salty…which is all the time, but still, even the ones you’ve scared the living shit out of, admit that you’re like a battling encyclopaedia.”

“Pft, they just don’t know how to properly research.”

“Even so, those guides, and especially those videos, were something else. Finished the Galarian subtitles, by the way. Check if they’re correct when you have time.” Leaf had wanted to practice her Galarian and he’d had no reason to stop her. But maybe he should have, because the next thing she said almost made him choke on his last piece of meat. “Who did you film them with?” She seemed confused by his shocked expression and was sharp enough to quickly turn suspicious. “What? I know you don’t keep anything stashed in the PC and there’s no way you’re training this particular line-up, so it’s safe to say those were not your Pokemon. And you think I didn’t notice how pale the hands in the videos were? Come on, now. You should credit whoever it is.”

He had to think fast, but his mind was coming up empty. What friends did he even have in Nippon except for Red and Leaf? Fuck. The first name that came to his mind was “Brady.” She lifted an eyebrow. “What? He’s from my karate club. Combat profile. We volunteer together now. A little weird, but has a good team. He didn’t want his name on the internet though, so that’s why I haven’t credited him.”

Having stolen Red’s thunder already sat a little wrong with him, but blatantly lying, and to Leaf on top of that, made him a whole new level of asshole. He had no choice, though. Or maybe he did? Leaf seemed to think a little too long for Blue’s comfort, but her shoulders finally relaxed, although her eyes remained sharp. “Is he a Red stan or something? With that team of his and all…”

“Yeah, huge fan. Who isn’t these days, right? Thought it’d be convenient. Literally every kid in our generation has at least a Pokemon or two from Red’s Championship team.”

Her stare was burning holes through him but, before he could panic, the crease in her forehead softened. “I miss him too, you know.”

Fuck. They hadn’t had this conversation and with around five minutes until the start of class, it was not a great time to open this particular can of worms. Yet, the subtle shade that was suddenly haunting her features reminded him of what it had been like. He hadn’t allowed himself to even think about Red. Every time he had, his mind conjured up one horrific scenario after another. He had no idea how Leaf had dealt with it. Was still dealing with it.

“He texts his mom. Even donated recently. I think he’ll be coming back soon.” The nervous crack in his voice could definitely be mistaken for naïve hope. Maybe it was that, just not in any way Leaf would think of.

There was a small smile forming on her lips but it wasn’t the happy kind. “I don’t know. It’s been so long that I can’t even imagine…Just…you know, I kept wondering why and…” She stared at her now-empty tray before finally looking up with an intensity Blue was not prepared for. Fuck. Maybe they should tell her. “Have you ever…” Fuck. They should’ve told her a long time ago. Another head could help with figuring something out. Why did they even hide it from her? He was about to spill everything right then and there, but stopped short when her resolve crumbled just as quickly as it had appeared. “Nevermind. Bygones, right?” She quickly stood up, heading to the tray deposit.

Blue lagged behind, more than a little shell-shocked. How could he be such a wimp? One suspicious look and he was ready to confess all his earthly sins. His spine must’ve gotten lost in a bag of ash somewhere.

To add insult to injury, the only class they shared—advanced math—happened to be right now, on the second floor of the building, meaning they had to walk together for at least 2-3 more minutes. Out of nowhere, Blue’s brain decided to be useful for once, supplying its owner with a rather convenient conversation topic.

“Hey, you still fangirling that Crystal girl?”

“How could I not?! Have you seen her interviews? Some of her objectives will get buried in bureaucracy for sure, but things like tightening the breeding and PC storage regulations need to happen already.” Blue couldn’t even get a word in about his  _ actual  _ question before Leaf continued on her tirade. “Right now, every jackass with a training licence can IV breed, then freeze hundreds of Pokemon in the PC. I get that we can’t overload the ecosystem by releasing them but we can’t keep them shelved like that!”

“Well, it’s not like they feel anything. And they say it’s good for endangered species. You know, filling up the gaps left from training and keeping a reserve.” Her next glare sent imaginary icicles right at his throat. His own fault for biting. “Hey, hey, I agree as well! You know I don’t breed, unless in a time crunch. Just stating the opposing arguments.”

“We’re not talking about a seed bank, Blue. Those are living things. Them not feeling anything doesn’t make it any less fucked up.”

Plants were also technically living things, just without a central nervous system, but they were on the last few steps to the second floor and he did have an agenda. “Completely agree. Has she said anything about when she’ll be stepping in as Champion?”

“Guess you missed her on Copycat’s show last night. She’s really proper about stuff—didn’t even skip the two years of middle school when she got the badges, so she’s not going to cut corners here. Girl is applying to law school next year and will be shadowing Lance until she graduates.”

“Seriously?! Then what’s with all the reform talk, if she’s going to take that long to even get started?!”

“Huh, what’s it to you? Weren’t you just playing devil’s advocate? Besides, I agree with her. We need a highly educated champion who can navigate politics, if the League’s ever going to be a real part of the Diet. Showmen and puppets can only go so far.”

“Bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Harsh or not, the Indigo League right now is mostly kids with big egos and overcompensating adults.” She shrugged, plopping down on her seat. “The rest of them are not much better either. Outside of battling or journey matters, the most they can do is turn something public. Then politicians sweet talk a few press conferences with grand promises and end up half-assing some bullshit compromise to smear the eyes of anyone who’d care to check if they came through.”

Blue knew fuck all about politics, apparently unlike Yoshio, the IT first-year from the battling club, currently extending a fistbump to Leaf from his desk in the front row. “Preach, sister.” He noted Blue’s ominously questioning smile and quickly held up his hands. “No offense, boss. We appreciate what y’all are doin’ right now, but it shouldn’t be schoolkids and salarymen with a hero complex taking care of this volcano mess, while celebrities raise the compensation funds. Shiiet, we all know where we live. Anime and natural disasters are what this nation’s built on. Well, weird porn too, but no complainin’ here. But why is there no budget for countermeasures? They got money to build those useless second floors in all PokeCentres, but nothing to clean up after an overdue volcanic eruption? Let’s not even mention the police ‘round here. If I gotta count on ten-year-olds to be breakin’ up criminal organisations, my candy ass is moving to Alola.”

The teacher came in just in time to save Blue from having to defend the League’s honour. He wasn’t even sure if he could. He himself was just in it for a way to keep battling, plus the fat salary. If he had some ideas that could improve general Pokemon well being, battling, or journeys, all the better, but he didn’t particularly care about the political aspects of the job, just like politicians didn’t seem to care about the League beyond its revenue.

A mild headache was infecting the scraps of brain power left after Blue’d been an unwilling audience for such debates. At least he could safely say he’d dodged the Leaf bullet once again. Win some, lose some.

***

By the third time Blue had to get off the bike and wait out the retching, he was almost home. His stupid, treacherous stomach and his dumb hopes of ever doing something with his sad existence. How on earth would he become a scientist, if he couldn’t even stomach the simplest high school dissection?!

He’d been expecting to see some Goldeen guts, but he hadn’t been prepared for that. The school’s cruelty-free solution to dissections was getting deformed mutant corpses from breeders. Pokemon, whose high rate of DNA mutations ensured they evolved quickly, often led to offspring with severe phenotypical alterations of the nonbeneficial kind. In the rare case those unlucky eggs even hatched, their drastically shortened lifespans added up to the masses of bodies studied in labs.

It was logical on paper. Senpais had warned them that labs were disgusting, but he’d paid no mind. Blue Oak wasn’t scared of science. Except the moment he’d laid eyes on the body, those enormous pinkish swellings on the abdomen had stared right back at him. According to the anatomy diagram, it was the Goldeen’s ovaries, but they looked more like infected cysts about to burst due to the post mortem bloat. Matching the gene from the list they were given was easy enough—obviously a result of the recessive mutation causing gonadal hypertrophy. Actually dissecting the thing was where it all went south, and—oh, was going south again.

He clutched his stomach, resisting the urge to punch it. At least he was alone. He’d kept a neutral face during the walk of shame back from the bathroom, but then the teacher had told everyone, on full blast, that this was “a normal reaction” and happened every year, only to then suggest for Blue to “take the rest of the class off” and do the online dissection. Just like all the other pansies who couldn’t handle a little blood. He kicked an overgrown bush at the memory and immediately regretted it when he saw the dumb piece of vegetation’s revenge in the form of a blueish stain on his uniform’s pant leg that’d be a nightmare to clean.

Deep breaths. Only four more hours until the midnight shift. A short supper, if he could handle it, some schoolwork, a few hours of shovelling, and he’d finally go to Mt. Silver for a slice of well deserved peace and quiet. And whatever mysterious surprise Red had been gushing about.

The lights were on when he reached the house. A little early for gramps to be stealing Blue’s weekend meal prep, but at least he’d finally catch him in the act. What greeted him instead was a loud “Happy birthday!” in a voice he’d evaded for more than a month.

The nicely wrapped sack of emotional shit Blue was not prepared to deal with had just spurt through its casket, clawed its way up from underneath swells of stockpiled suppression, and burst out of the pits of his subconscious, materialising into the shape of his sister.

Not returning the crushing hug was easy to write off as a simple consequence of his hands being immobilized. The awkward silence must‘ve been harder to ignore. A few seconds too long without any response and Daisy pulled back, staring right through him until her smile dampened.

“Well, don’t look too happy to see me.”

“Just tired.” A good excuse as any. He couldn’t be bothered to try and ease her growing concern. “You didn’t have to come.” Now he was being outright rude. Good. “I don’t really feel like celebrating.”

The mood was safely in the gutter, but leave it to Ms. Sunshine to try cruising a sinking ship. “Too bad.” The sweetness of her smile drew out more acid on his tongue. He swallowed it down. “Come on, don’t look so grim. I’m not dragging you anywhere. We’ll have dinner here and catch up.” A few more seconds of uncomfortable silence and there they were, the first cracks in the crystals of sugar. “You’ve been a ghost the past few weeks. I know you’re busy, but you could spare more than a few words every couple of days…”

Watching the increasing discomfort with whatever she saw in his eyes drew him frighteningly close to a revolting kind of glee.

“Blue, are you okay?”

Bitterness lifted the corners of his mouth. A quick glance towards the shoe rack told him gramps was still in the lab. What better time to catch up? “Just tired. Anything interesting on your end? Anything you’ve got to say to me?”

Couldn’t get more straightforward than that. She didn’t bite though. “Why does it sound like you’re challenging me to a battle? Seriously, what’s wrong? You’re acting weird.”

Did that mean she had no intention of telling him or was it because she didn’t expect him to know? He kept observing, waiting for the natural human instinct to fill in silence to draw out anything of use.

“Look, I’m sorry. I know how busy you are, so I shouldn’t have come unannounced. I’ll stay for the weekend, so if you want to rest now, we can celebrate later.”

Blue really was an incorrigible dickhead. She’d come all this way for his birthday and was staying, despite her beef with gramps, just to spend more time with his ungrateful ass. Yet guilt wasn’t the antidote to the venomous wrath flooding his thoughts. It was the possibility that she was here to tell him in person. A sliver of hope that maybe there was some honesty left in this family.

He let the tension in his face diffuse into its standard exhausted grimace. “Nah, it’s fine. I’m just not that hungry.” Feeling a bit shitty about his bitter greeting, Blue threw the most plausible explanation he could manage. “We had labs today.”

“Oh. Yeah, those always suck. What did you get?”

“Gonadal hypertrophy.”

“Eww! Gosh, you’re unlucky. A girl in my year got that and when she tried to slice them open, the things popped right in her face, even got some goo in her nose! Had to get her out on a stretcher an—” She seemed to catch the tiny choking sound he made and swiftly curbed her enthusiasm. “Sorry. I’m guessing this is about the last conversation you want to have right now.”

There couldn’t possibly be anything left in his stomach but he still went for a weak nod in favour of anything involving opening his mouth.

“Hey, sorry…It’s still your birthday, though! Why don’t you go take a shower and see if you feel like having dinner? I baked ribs and focaccia,” she said in a sing-song voice that did not make the thought of food any easier to tolerate. 

A shower did make him feel better though, even more so than the toothpaste and determined gargling. It was rather tempting to screw it all and go nap, but he was kind of peckish, now that the nausea was gone. He quickly got into one of his last not-ruined-by-ash tracksuits and skipped the steps to the living room, going straight for the set table.

“There he is!” Daisy’s smile was back at her brother’s newfound enthusiasm for a celebratory dinner. “I saw your meal prep in the fridge. Good job on the stew! Got the right spice mix. Though you look so skinny. You’ve got to eat more, Blue, you need food to grow.”

“No time. And gramps steals my food.”

Daisy tilted her head with a smug smile, eyes drifting behind Blue’s head. “Hear that, grandpa! He  _ does _ mind you taking his salad.”

Blue turned around and saw a head was peeking from above the couch, in front of the murmuring TV. He hadn’t even noticed the lying old Zubat had come home. It was far from unusual for the two of them to eat separately, but Daisy coming back must’ve been what’d dragged the professor out of the lab this early. Though, of course, the old fart was pretending he wasn’t interested and waiting for a royal fucking invitation to join them. It almost made Blue nostalgic, in a way. Judging by the lack of coercing to join them on Daisy’s side, things were still frosty between her and gramps. Only now, he knew a possible, even likely, reason for that. Time for some fun.

“Are you going to eat there by yourself? The knees calling again and you can’t get up?” It came out with more bite than concern. Still, as good a bone as any. Gramps, though, the stubborn bastard he was, only grunted in response, without any indication that he planned to move his saggy ass within this century. Daisy’s face mirrored Blue’s own ire and he couldn’t help but feel their old sense of camaraderie rising up, but it wasn’t what he needed right now. Having them both here was too good of a chance to miss, so he bit the bullet and took on his sister’s usual role of switching vinegar for honey. “Come on, gramps. We’re all here, it’s my birthday, and there’s much better food on the table than that soggy potato salad.”

Finally, the old bag popped his knees, making too much of a show out of his walk to the dining table for a man still in his fifties. “Well, I suppose something freshly cooked would be a pleasant change.”

“No one forced you to eat my leftovers,” Blue grumbled.

“And no one’s forcing you to take everything I say as a personal insult. Though, I should be getting used to you talking back even more, now that the hormones are about to kick in.”

“About to? Gramps, how old am I?”

The professor took his time, completely unfazed by the question. “Should be thirteen today, no?” Such genuine curiosity, without even the decency to look embarrassed.

“This is Blue’s fourteenth birthday.” Daisy made a swift cut in her chunky pork rib, the knife meeting the plate with a sharp clink.

“Huh. I was a lot taller at your age. In humans, the next generation is usually bigger than its predecessors. Let’s hope you hit a growth spurt soon,” gramps said, filling up his plate.

Blue’s first opportunity. “How about dad? How tall was he when he was my age?”

Gramps looked at him for a fraction of a second before reaching for some bread. “He was taller too. Your sister as well, if I remember correctly. Though, she is a bit too tall, for a female.”

Daisy would normally laugh off such a comment, much more used to gramps’ bluntness, but the vigour with which she kept cutting her meat did not subside.

“How’s school going? Are you focusing on classes?” The question was directed at Daisy, completely shifting the topic and thus, Blue’s opportunity to capitalise on it.

“It’s going well.”

“Good. Your grades weren’t the best last semester. You should try to compensate.”

Daisy’s only response was more meat slicing. Despite his plans to subtly direct the conversation, Blue couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Wait, your grades were bad? Seriously?”

“No. I took a lot of classes, but I still kept my GPA above average. And it’s not like it matters to employers,” Daisy pointedly looked at the professor, “as long as I get my degree and license.”

“It will matter to you, if you want to be a researcher.” Gramps seized the conversation once again, turning to Blue. “We don’t have enough doctors anyway, so employers may not care as much, but grad schools and PhD programs do.” At Blue’s curt nod, he continued. “Also, you should stop with all this volunteering. If it’s for PR, you’ve already done enough. You’re already a student and a gym leader, you don’t need volcano janitor in your CV.”

There it was. Gramps had made a few off-handed comments about Blue’s volunteering being excessive in the few times they’d interacted, but of course, now that Daisy was here, it was time for some good old unsolicited advice.

“And who else’s gonna do it?”

“Older League members with more free time, who’re sitting in their gyms all day. The League might’ve taken this on to make themselves seem useful again, but you’re being naïve by stretching yourself too thin, while others keep far away from the dirty work. It’s not that important, the damage is already done, so it doesn’t matter how quickly you fix the mess.”

The piece of bread in Blue’s mouth saved his teeth from being grit too harshly. He could take the bait. Fuck, he was ready for a good fight with gramps and invalidating all his efforts was a classic invitation. But that was not part of the plan. There was an agenda, goddamnit, and he couldn’t spin it through fighting. He needed to shift the topic before gramps pushed him beyond the end of his wits.

“Noted,” he said curtly before turning to Daisy, the only scapegoat he had right now. “I’m not the only one keeping busy, right. How’s the part-time job going? Balancing well with school?”

Daisy grimaced at him but, before she could say anything, gramps was already fuming. “Part-time job?! I don’t send you this much money every month for you to waste your time working for scraps at a convenience store!”

“It’s not a convenience store!” She looked at her plate again, where untouched meat was already chopped into tiny pieces. “I’m a  _ research assistant _ .”

Gramps huffed mockingly. “There is no way that a first-year undergrad is a research assistant, let alone a paid one. If you’re going to lie, at least make up something believable.”

“Grandpa!” She stared at him intently, her eyes shouting inaudibly. “I  _ told _ you about this. The job I was doing in spring.”

Something was definitely not adding up here. “Wait, you told me about getting a job in summer,” Blue noted, only for his questioning to be completely ignored in favour of Daisy and gramps’ staring match.

The professor cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. “How many times do I have to tell you this is pointless. Stop wasting your time.”

Had their conversations always been this cryptic? No, he would’ve noticed, they were both shit actors. They’d probably managed to keep it all out of Blue’s earshot. “What are you talking about?”

Daisy dropped her cutlery, still holding gramps’ glare and, once again, completely ignoring Blue. “Might be a waste of time to you, but I still care.”

“Stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”

Blue was now completely sure he knew exactly what they were talking about, yet all schemes of calculated intel gathering burst out the window. “Stop ignoring me and tell me what the hell you’re fighting about!”

Both of them finally looked at him. That was it. They had to tell him now. They shared a quick glance before Daisy turned to him. “Go to your room, Blue.”

Of course. He knew they wouldn’t tell him. Gramps was his lying self and Daisy wouldn’t want to ruin his birthday. But being dismissed so easily was a sucker punch right in his pride. Always the stupid child they took him for. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew it was too early, he knew this wouldn’t go down well, but fuck if he didn’t want to see the looks on their faces. “Why? So you can discuss dad’s suicide in peace?”

It was worth it, all right. For those few precious seconds of complete shock, in which Daisy’s mouth fell open, choking on her kind dismissals, and gramps’ forehead formed a map of angry lines leading straight to the storm of confusion blowing away the permanent condescension from his eyes. Blue could barely hold the urge to smirk, to revel in catching them neck-deep in their bullshit.

Gramps’ fist hit the table with enough concentrated force to bring Blue back from whatever hell he was headed to for gloating because of his own father’s suicide.

“What have you told him?” he hissed at Daisy.

“Me? What have  _ you _ told him?! You’re the one indifferent enough to still call it a suicide!”

“Stop it right now! I will not allow you to fill your brother’s head with your delusions.”

“Ha! You just can’t admit that you let your own son’s murder go unpunished.”

Murder. The dots were there but they weren’t connecting. “What do you mean murder?” Blue mumbled.

“I’ve let this go on long enough. You wanted to see for yourself and I let you—no signs of forced entry, struggle, or poison. How much longer are you going to drag this out?”

“Until I find out what really happened. And I don’t care if you approve or not, you didn’t care for the truth then and you don’t now.”

Blue was back to being clueless. “Why are you talking about a murder? Was there a car crash or not? And what happened to mom?!” The crack in his voice made Daisy turn towards him, but gramps spoke before she could.

“I did care. I cared enough to take you in and raise you.”

“Raise us?! How? You’ve spent more time in the lab than with us. Mom and Delia raised me and I raised Blue.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“You were a bad parent to us and probably a worse parent to dad. Is that it? Are you so sure it’s a suicide because deep down you think you’re the reason for it?” She seemed to realise the gravity of what she’d said, but the anger oozing off of her didn’t subside.

Gramps’ eyes had turned into slits. “No. But I know why you’re so hellbent on making it a murder. It gives you hope that your father didn’t choose to leave you. But he did. He left all of us. Deal with it like an adult and stop playing detective. And keep your brother out of it.”

Two pairs of eyes turned to Blue. He didn’t meet them; he’d chosen to stare at the table a while ago. His father’s death reduced to a ping pong blame game. The silence was his cue that the match was over. He looked them both in the eyes, their resemblance uncanny now. Both faces angry and expectant, probably waiting for him to declare the winner. It was laughable but there was no humour left in him, not even the poisonous kind. “What’s wrong with you?” he said to gramps in a quiet voice, then looked at Daisy. “With both of you?”

She was the first to crumble “Blue, you don’t understand! Just listen to me I—”

“Don’t! Blue, you have to keep this quiet. This family has suffered enough. We can—”

“Stop it,” Blue whispered, clenching his fist hard enough to feel the flesh of his palm rupture. His voice couldn’t break through their simultaneous shouting. He stood up sharply, the screeching of the chair’s legs against the floor finally getting their attention. Sweet silence. He could join the shouting, curse them out so bad they tasted the shit he spewed, but what was the point? Defending his wounded pride would not erase the years of lies and yanking out answers would not bring any of his parents back.

He turned around without a word and went to his room. His name was yelled a couple of times, after which the shouting match went on. Umbreon was awake now and knew him well enough to just let him pet her in as much silence as the downstairs ruckus allowed. The only one actually present for him in this house. He smiled down at her.

“You wanna come with me to Cinnabar?”

She tilted her head, curious at the offer. He hadn’t let her come before, it was dirty and likely bad for her lungs, but it was much better than in the beginning and she deserved to see how it all worked at least once.

“You’ll have to wear a mask. I’ll give you one of mine—Blastoise’s are too big.”

She nodded quickly, already impatient to see where Blue had been spending so much time.

“You’ll need a bath after.” Another nod. “Okay then. Afterwards, I’m going to Red’s. Do you want to climb together?”

A very enthusiastic nod. She was eager to properly stretch her legs and see Alakazam.

“Great. Let’s go!” She jumped down from his lap and circled around the room, impatient for him to gather his stuff. Watching her, Blue broke out in another smile, which quickly died down when Umbreon pulled down the door handle in one elegant jump. The volume from downstairs flooded his ears and he quickly stuffed the last workbook he was taking in his duffle bag.

“Okay, okay, I’m done. If they call you, ignore them, okay.”

She nodded slowly, confused, but not questioning his directions.

They marched through the living room together, Blue firmly slamming the door on his way out of the house. A sharp whistle later and Pidgeot was ready to go. He let Umbreon ride with him, keeping her carefully tucked between his own body and Pidgeot’s. The crisp air of late November burned his cheeks, ruffled his hair, and howled loud enough to smother everything else. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might take me a lil longer, but this was already written, so why sit on it. 
> 
> Gross trivia: The dissection is based on ones on medaka fish (normal, not transgenic obv), which are still done a lot in jp schools, while the mutation is based on actual research about the _hot_ gene. The pics of female double mutants are pretty disturbing. 
> 
> Also, here's a confession, off my chest and into the internet void: I'm a massive twat for even thinking this, those things can be devastating, but holy shit, I'm fucking glad for typhoon season. At least the rain and wind are a break from the boiling heat. Humidity afterwards still sucks tho.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning: if the thought of the prev chapter's labs got you queasy, skip the part marked with a dashed line. There's a tldr later in the chapter.
> 
> In other news, awesome beta was way too awesome, which got me lazy with grammar, so I chose to be back on my own. Not great for the story, but this was supposed to be about me fixing up my dwindling English, so yeah, we're back to bleak editing. Any mistakes that have slipped in this chapter and do so from here on now are entirely my fault.

Ah, the bite of icy wind. He’d missed it.

Everything was white - the ground, the slopes, the air. Tiny crystals of ice in a billion snowflakes echoed the moonlight, igniting the path ahead for one determined trainer. Blue let the snow consume his senses, marching ahead to the tune of it crunching underneath his boots. And the occasional tragic mewl. Umbreon had chosen to ride inside his jacket as soon as they’d exited the last of the cave levels and was now giving her trainer a puzzled look.

“What?”

She nuzzled her head under his trembling jaw.

“I’m not cold. I mean, I guess I am, but I like it.” She let out a tiny mewl and tucked herself back inside, sheltering her ears from the chilling breeze.

He’d climbed the open part of the mountain on foot a few times with Red, but always in the peak of a sunny day. Still, the path was visible and besides, Haxorus was always here in case he got lost or tired. The latter was more likely. Blue would never tell her, but Umbreon wasn’t exactly easy to carry like when she’d been an Eevee. He gave her a little scratch through the thick fabric of the jacket. She was looking out for his gains. And keeping him warm. And probably here in case he passed out in the snow and there was no one left to take out Haxorus. Though a short break wouldn’t hurt. Yeah, from the sound of his knees popping when he sat down, a break had been long overdue.

The snow was soft and soothing on his calloused palms. He’d taken a shower at the now reconstructed PokeCentre on Cinnabar, but the cold just felt so much more cleansing. Funny how both ash and snow meant death for almost everything buried beneath them, yet painted such strikingly different pictures. Black and white. Filth versus purity. Or maybe it was fire against ice.

A distant howl reminded him that snow wasn’t death. Just hardcore survival. Whereas magma had incinerated everything in its path. But then again, this wasn’t real cold either. Real cold meant no movement, not even for atoms. So that’d be even deadlier.

Blue had to ditch the philosophy of extreme temperatures when a more immediate threat in the form of a growling little head emerged from his jacket. He sighed and took out his phone. 

03:32.

“Yeah, alright, we’re going.”

He quickly got up from where he was laying, tracksuit bottoms now soaked and whole body shaking. A slow climb whilst enjoying the view was apparently not an option for Haxorus, who was determined to dash to Red’s cave as quickly as the cargo on his back would allow it. They saw Murkrow hovering outside, probably returning from hunting. Inside, almost everyone else was in their balls, including Alakazam. Umbreon quickly jumped off and curled up against Charizard, who was sleeping with his tail in the small fire pit.

Nothing seemed too out of place, so whatever Red’s surprise was, Blue’d have to wait until morning to find out. Maybe it was the cave being clean for once. Red had really outdone himself this time, probably hoping to be spared the lecture about living like a pig. Blue felt even worse for showing up so abysmally late, but that delightful dinner conversation was still too raw and he couldn’t risk a breakdown. Bastard’s mere presence made him way too comfortable with going back to his childish self. Whining on and on was not going to solve anything, but he wasn’t even close to knowing how to process this, let alone how to put it into coherent words. Whatever. That was future Blue’s problem. 

He jumped off from Haxorus and tiptoed to Mewtwo’s ball in the far corner, arranging the sweets he’d packed around it. It was a valid experiment – see if Lizzie would accept food that wasn’t coming from Red. Maybe he’d finally see it. He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Though his futon had been dragged near the firepit. After changing out of his wet clothes, he noticed the bed had clean sheets and fluffed pillows.

It was such a tiny gesture, yet it made him choke up on a sudden flood of angry happiness. There was one person who really, truly gave a shit about him and he just had to be stuck here, a prisoner of his own absurd levels of selflessness. A grand old joke. Even the universe was mocking him. He wanted to shove Red in a bag and drag him somewhere far away, where there was no family drama, no responsibilities, and no overpowered pests that couldn’t stay in their Pokeballs. They’d battle for money or find a nice uninhabited forest and spend the rest of their days living off the fat of the land with their Pokemon.

The only thing stopping him was just how peaceful the little shit looked sleeping. Didn’t even have the decency to drool or something. Blue still couldn’t figure out how he hadn’t died frozen in his sleep yet. The blanket barely reached his midback. Hugging Pikachu couldn’t give off that much warmth. He didn’t bother tucking him in though. He’d tried a few times over the past year, but the listless nutcase just seemed unable to bear anything covering his back.

At least when he was sleeping, the mildly intimidating elegance that had started planting its roots in Red’s features went almost completely away. He just looked like the kid he was - mouth slightly open, right side of face squashed by the pillow, and left cheek looking just so puffy. Like a big marshmallow. Maybe he was bloated? Too many crisps for dinner again? Whatever it was, Blue had the overwhelming urge to just poke his face. Not harshly, more like a quick tap. Just to see if it was still as squishy as it’d been before they started their journeys. 

His hair was longer too, now that he noticed it hugging the pillow like spilled ink. At least he’d waited for Blue to come cut it. Every time Red had tried, he’d managed to make a mess of it, despite his unfairly good hair genes. If only Blue’s own mane was as tame and silky.

The serenity emanating from his sleeping rival was contagious enough to quell Blue’s frayed nerves. His eyelids grew heavy and before he knew it, his head was drooping, dragging his body forward and jostling him awake. 

04:17

Still quite early. Red usually woke up around nine or ten. A good 5-6 hours away. More than the usual amount of sleep he got anyway. Yeah, he’d set an alarm and wake up in time to talk family or at least Mewtwo strategies before he had to go to the gym in the afternoon.

There was no snowstorm outside, so the quiet pops from the campfire rang clearly. Staring at fire was a bit like watching the stars. With enough imagination, or trouble on your mind, you could see images in the dancing flames, fleeting figures twirling around for fractions of a second until they vanished into thin trails of smoke. 

Blue closed his eyes and turned away. 

***

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somehow, he’d gotten a second chance at the lab and he was not messing this one up. Whatever they threw at him, he was gonna slice the bitch up, get his grade, and be done with this shit.

A corpse was thrown onto his tray with a bang, sending small chunks flying everywhere. The rotting flesh had a greyish hue, with small isles of white maggots clustered on the body, in the holes where the scales had peeled off, and on the head, digesting the dermis around the exposed maxillae and empty eye sockets. The tail was half-eaten, its ends decomposed to some sort of dark sludge. He grabbed it by the base with the forceps and slowly rotated the Goldeen on its back.

Giant ovaries. Again. How had he not seen them? How were they not eaten up already? Whatever. He was ready. As his scalpel’s blade got closer to the swellings, the light reflected off its surface started playing tricks on him. There was no way this thing was breathing. Yet the more he looked, the more it seemed like the cyst-like lumps were throbbing angrily, threatening to burst into an explosion of tiny eggs.

Nausea began rearing its ugly head again, but Blue was having none of it. He pushed the bile crawling up his oesophagus back through sheer willpower and bent down to take a closer look. Underneath the overstretched layer of translucent skin was a web of pulsating blood vessels, each one unravelling into dozens more. His eyes wandered mindlessly until they reached the dent where the two pinkish swellings met. The capillaries near the border were worming about, their ends clashing like swords on a battlefield. Blue was frozen in place, hypnotised by the raging war, until suddenly the left side soldiers began slaying their comrades, while on the right side, the troops were kneeling down and gutting themselves.

No, this wasn’t possible and it wasn’t happening. He made a precise cut right down the middle of the gonadal sac, splitting the ovaries and ending whatever this hallucination was. 

But then the raw gash resealed itself and the capillaries started coming back to life. They were almost back at it in full force before he dug his scalpel in again with enough force to crush the Goldeen’s spine.

He shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. His heartbeat went down a notch, but the hand holding the scalpel kept trembling. Wait a second. He opened his eyes and the blood that was supposed to be leaking from the incision was wrapped up around the blade, forming blotches of rotting skin on it. He tried to pull, but the emerging flesh was clinging, trapping it inside the body and rapidly climbing towards his hand. Pulling harder just dragged the limp body off the tray, as its blood kept scaling the metal. He smashed the corpse on the table and its eggs spewed out, instantly growing into more corpses that hit the floor in splurges of fluid and rot.

They squirmed, wriggling their deformed bodies towards his legs. A wet sensation hit his finger and he threw the corpse away but it was too late. Its hellspawn was already swarming his leg up to the knee, stealing his balance and sending him crashing into the ground. They were now everywhere but he was not dying here. Despite the thousands of corpses weighing him down as they slithered towards his face, Blue got to his knees, squelching the monstrosities stuck onto them into the floor, and crawled towards the next desk. He grabbed the first piece of metal his reaching fingers could find. Scissors. He gripped them tight and stabbed at the creatures clinging to his body, splitting them open and ripping them off himself. They were now jumping off on their own but Blue wouldn’t let those things get away so he chased after them and pierced and cut and gouged with his bare hands.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He woke up drawing a sharp breath against the fleeting air hitting his face. Whatever this nightmare had been, it’d turned into one of those falling ones. Well, the opposite actually, he felt more like he’d been hurled up, but he woke up just the same. Wait, was he awake? Why was he standing up? How was he so tall?

Now that would be because some-fucking-how he was floating mid-air. Kicking his feet in a panicked frenzy did absolutely nothing for his current elevated state, so he forced himself to calm down and assess the situation. He didn’t have to think about it too hard, as soon enough, a humanoid form emerged into the dim light cast by the dying fire. 

Naked, purple, definitely belonging to a galaxy far far away. Red was right, the root of all their problems really looked like an overgrown distant cousin of one of those exotic hairless Meowths. 

Blue stared at it and it stared back, its expression unreadable. It was still dark outside and no one else had woken up, so he hissed with the most rage he could muster into a whisper “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

It glared at him. It fucking glared at him. “I’m not Red, Lizzie,” he spoke with just enough volume to know exactly who’d wake up at the sound of his voice. “Don’t test me. Let me down before this gets ugly.” Umbreon growled quietly to put some actual weight to his threats. 

It completely ignored her. The audacity of this thing. Who the hell did it think it was?! He was about to hiss some more but his throat was getting tighter. Umbreon’s fur was now in spikes, ears flattened backwards and spine arched, ready for takeoff. Not yet. Red was still adamant about protecting the thing, so Blue wanted to tell everyone to calm down a notch but his breath hitched as the pressure squeezing it sharply loosened and he ended up coughing out a wheeze.

Everything afterwards happened within fragments of a second. Umbreon lowered herself to the ground with a snarl, releasing a concentrated pulse of pitch-black energy towards Mewtwo. Blue tried to stop her, but it was too late, his whine only enough to distract the creature before it could dodge. All at once, the Pokemon that were out were pulled to their balls and the last thing he saw were its purple eyes staring right at him as its pupils dilated and the world went black.

It was cold. So cold it burned. Screaming. Why was the world screaming? He tried to breathe, but the thick liquid set his insides ablaze. He tried to run, but every millimetre of his being cried out in agony. He was drowning, choking on that vile fluid, he was stabbed with needles and cut open all at once. His neck was broken, as bleach was poured down his throat and his body was doused in acid. He was a Froakie, a Pidgey, a Rattata, a Basculin, an Abra. He was the guy whose protein shake was stolen from the fridge, the secretary secretly trying to find the true source of the budget, the woman who was doing it for her son’s cancer treatment, and the man who hated what he’d become. All he wanted was to be dead, forever, but instead, he was everything, and then he turned to nothing under a thousand scalpels and the hands who held them, killed and reborn in a timeless cycle of neverending torture.

And then it all stopped and he was falling, crashing into something solid. His head was still spinning as it was tilted, then laid on the ground. He realised he could breathe again, right before his chest was hit with enough force to push out any air he’d managed to suck in. His eyes shot open at the dull pain of a pair of hands ramming into his ribcage.

“Red,” he groaned at the figure on his left, but it didn’t listen, now shifting a bit to frantically smash his sternum. “Red!” He looked like he’d heard, but his hands kept going. Blue managed to save enough breath to yell “Red, stop it!”

Red briefly looked at his face with wide eyes as his hands slowed down to lightly pushing against Blue’s chest. “Hey, it’s alright.” He got up on his elbows, but that didn’t stop the hands still tapping against him. With a groan, he fully sat up and grabbed Red by the wrists. 

“I’m okay!” 

The realisation that Blue was, in fact, alive seemed to finally hit. Or not. Red wiggled his hand free and put it right back on Blue’s chest. 

“You check for pulse  _ before _ you try to break someone’s ribs, dumbass.” His joke fell flat, as Red kept trembling, his eyes darting all over Blue’s face. 

“Focus!” Blue grabbed his chin, forcibly invading his field of vision and doing his best to speak in a clear tone. “You’re okay. I’m okay. It’s all okay.” 

Red retracted his hand, before curling on himself and collapsing against Blue. 

“Shh, it’s alright, everything’s alright,” he tried in the voice he used for frightened Pokemon. 

As he kneaded soothing circles into the shell-shocked ball of anxiety in his arms, Blue caught a quick flash of something moving with incredible speed. The cave was empty except for Alakazam, who was passed out, and a newly materialised Mewtwo giving him a Revive.

The Pokemon met his gaze and Blue knew. He really knew, yet there were still so many questions left. How long had it lived like this? How had it survived? Who’d done all of this? But then Alakazam stirred up and Mewtwo bolted out of the cave. 

“Wait!” Blue shouted, but it was already gone.

The ball in his arms stirred. Oh shit. Red had heard him and somehow figured out what was happening. Before Blue could even blink, his rival sprang up and ran out into the creeping daylight.

“Oh, hell no,” Blue murmured, as he jumped to his backpack and dug out Pidgeot’s ball. One look at her trainer’s face was enough to put her on high alert. “Red ran out, find him and bring him back!” She took off immediately and Blue was left to assess the damage.

The only Pokemon out now was Alakazam, who didn’t seem hurt, more so weirdly detached.

“Are you okay? Can you tell me what happened?” Alakazam slowly shook his head. “Okay, that’s alright. Just tell me if you need anything. Max Potion? Max Revive?” Another shake and Alakazam went back in his ball. He’d definitely have to get him checked at a Centre.

Umbreon, Pikachu, Charizard, and Murkrow’s balls were all there, closed. Mewtwo’s ball was wide open and surrounded by half-eaten sweets. So it had come out to eat. 

He picked up Umbreon’s ball and swung it open, praying to all deities that everything would be fine. She came out with a growl and seemed confused until she noticed her trainer and nearly tackled him to the ground.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re okay too,” he managed to say through the dry licks she was covering his face in. “Do you remember what happened after you attacked?” She shook her head and looked at him expectantly as if he’d know any better. “I don’t know either. Did you get any visions?” Another shake, just as a loud screech came from outside. 

Blue let Umbreon down and ran to the cave’s entrance, where a very, very pissed off Red was squirming in Pidgeot’s talons, clasped tightly by his t-shirt and shorts. The moment he laid eyes on Blue, he started clawing the air and hissing.

“Don’t you dare! What were you thinking!” Red hissed again. “Oh, what? You were gonna catch it barefoot in your pyjamas and with no Pokemon. Sure.” He kept wriggling for a while, but Blue stood his ground. “I’ll tell Pidgeot to let you down, but only if you promise to behave.” Red’s face remained twisted in a furious frown. “I’m not joking. Calm down or I’ll tie you to a tree.” That got his attention. He let out an annoyed huff, but his scowl turned into a more subdued pout. Blue nodded to Pidgeot and she set her cargo down gently, only for Red to get right back on his feet and stomp inside the cave.

“What happened?!” Blue’s question fell on deaf ears, as his rival was busy letting all of his Pokemon out. “Are they all okay?” They seemed fine and all of them nodded at whatever Red was tapping his foot about. He put all of them, even Pikachu, back in their balls, with the glaring exception of Charizard, in whose direction Red was now marching.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Blue growled, as his instincts kicked in and he tripped Red with a sweeping low kick. Red’s shock quickly turned back into anger but Blue was on him before he could do anything stupid, twisting his arm behind his back, pinning the other one down, and praying that he’d positioned his bodyweight into the proper grip one of his karate senpais had taught him. A very illegal move in karate and a very necessary one now, as he actually managed to trap Red. Mostly. The bastard was squirming like a frenzied fish on dry land, only much stronger. 

“Holy shit, stop it, you ogre,” Blue shouted but the struggle continued and he was almost thrown off again. “Red, listen to me, it was an accident!” His words weren’t getting through, so he took more drastic measures and dug his knee in the back of Red’s thigh, causing him to hiss in pain. “Sorry but you gotta listen to me! Umbreon hit it with a dark pulse. You know what a dark pulse does!” The thrashing got a tad weaker, so Blue continued in one breath. “It was one of its memories. I didn’t mean to, but I provoked it, Umbreon panicked and it all went to shit. It’s not its fault and I don’t think it meant to hurt me, I think it was just as terrified as us!”

Red finally seemed to have given up, but Blue wasn’t risking it just yet. “Please tell me you’re not gonna run away again.” He didn’t care how desperate he sounded, he just wanted everyone to calm the fuck down already. A few tense seconds later, Red tapped his hand on the floor three times and Blue relaxed his grip. Only to get thrown on his back and clocked in the liver.

“Ow!” He didn’t even have time to curl up in pain before he was sharply pulled into something between a hug and another attempt to crush his ribcage. Red’s heart was thumping so hard, Blue could feel every beat of its frantic rhythm, so it took him a second to realise there were symbols being hastily scratched on his back.

_ …up and you were in the air shaking and chocking and all the Pokemon were gone, except Mewtwo and it was just standing there with this blank face and I couldn’t move at all and then Alakazam jumped out and stared at it and then you fell and I couldn’t hear you breathing, so I thought you were dead… _

“Whoa, okay, calm down,” he pulled Red by the shoulders, digging his fingers in his arms to ground him. “I’m not dead. You’re not getting rid of me that easy, okay?” He got a meek nod in return, but Red was still shaking. “By the way, you  _ really _ suck at CPR,” he grinned, in another attempt to lighten the mood. “Seriously, were you trying to save me or finish me?” He got lightly punched in the stomach, but it was worth it for the tiny annoyed smile on Red’s face.

“Did you get the visions?”

Red shook his head. He looked around for his phone, but it was nowhere in sight, so with slight irritation, he signed.  _ You provoked it? _

“Yeah, I had this crazy nightmare where I was back in the lab but the dead Goldeen were evil and jumped me, so I had to hack them with some scissors.” He waved off Red’s puzzlement at his nonsensical nightmare. “Look, main point is, I was killing Pokemon in a lab and, judging from what Lizzie has been through, I’ll bet it wasn’t a fan. When I woke up it was holding me in the air and Umbreon attacked before I could figure out what it wanted.”

Red was still looking at him confused.  _ What it’s been through? _

“The visions you were talking about. The lab? The experiments where you felt everything? It must’ve died thousands of times, or felt all those deaths at least.” Red’s eyes were even wider now, the anger fully replaced by horror. “What? Isn’t that what you saw back in Cerulean? Man, I have no idea how you could’ve battled with this playing in your head.”  __

_ This sounds very different. In Cerulean it was mostly this fear and pain that came out of nowhere. Everything became blurred like I was underwater and it was really cold and noisy, but I didn’t see any clear images. _

“Hmm. I’m guessing the Dark Pulse amplified it or something. Maybe that’s why it pushed all the Pokemon back in their balls. I got all of it though. It was horrible. It was like it was in every single living thing’s head simultaneously and died with them.”

_ You think it can still feel all of that? _

“I don’t know but…in its memory, all it wanted was to just die once and for all. And besides, think about it, even if not in a lab, even here, every time a bug gets crushed, or an Ursaring eats a Magikarp, or two Sneasels fight, it’d feel it. And even with humans. God, there were so many people there, but I remember this one woman - they were paying for her kid’s leukaemia treatment, so she worked for them, even though she loved Pokemon, and she hated herself so much, but then there were other people who were thinking of what they’re gonna eat for lunch.” His head hurt just trying to remember. “Everything all at once and some of it was so fucked up, seriously.”

Red was processing the scrambled explanation with that intense look of his that usually meant a new pain in the ass battle strategy.  _ This would explain why it likes quiet, deserted places and staying in its ball.  _

“Probably. Still, it wanted to die so much. I don’t think it would even be alive if it still felt all of that.” There was a moment of silence before Blue shook off the disturbing thought and continued. “I’m thinking it was pumped with something. There was this weird liquid. It’s where the cold came from and I felt scared of it. Enhancers maybe?”

Immediate disgust came over Red. The drugs were infamous for their usage in wars and illegal gladiator pits. There were variations, but for the most part, they didn’t increase power, more so caused severe rewiring of the psyche, enabling Pokemon to act against their natural limits, the very thing that made them control their strength with each other and almost fully stopped them from directly attacking humans, unless under extreme circumstances. 

_ There’s a surge of them in Sinnoh right now. This new group Team Plasma are synthesising. Think it’s related? _

“I heard about street busts up there but I thought it was human drugs?!”

_ Police thought so too, initially. Plasma went through the trouble of trying to disguise them as low-grade party pills but the lab results came out last week. Even Interpol is on it now. Remember those Lake Guardians you wanted to go hunt? There’s rumours they’re the main targets. _

“They wanna drug legendaries?! Holy shit these groups are getting more insane by the day. They’ll get us all killed.” Red nodded in grim agreement. “Well, still, this is in Sinnoh. I mean, maybe it was them, but aren’t they new? The journals we found in Cinnabar seemed old as fuck. I used to suspect one of those crazy Rocket scientists, but this lab in the memories was huge. Couldn’t have been just one person and definitely couldn’t have fit, even in a mansion.”

_ The files were on that secret level. Maybe there were more and we missed them. _

“Both of us? I highly doubt either of us would miss anything, let alone both. Even if we did, tough luck. Whole building’s ashes now.”

Well, that got the mood all hopeful and jolly. They were both staring at random things around the cave, lost in their own thoughts, until Blue got up, outstretching his hand. “Come on, I wanna go to get Alakazam checked at the Centre. I’m pretty sure he saved all our asses, but he looked really shaken up.”

Red seemed puzzled but took his hand and pulled himself up.  _ You want me to come with? I have to go look for it. _

“You don’t even know where to start!”

_ Cerulean. _

“Well, aren’t you smart. Yeah, maybe, but if it’s there, it’ll likely stay there.”

_ What if it doesn’t? _

“Oh, come on, it was probably there for years before you found it.” It was a weak argument. Red was right this time. “Okay, fine, but I’m coming with. We’ll drop off Alakazam and we’ll go to Cerulean.”

_ Don’t you have the gym? _

“Fuck the gym.” He typed a quick text to Lance and the accountant. “There. I’m taking my first sick day. Let’s go.”

He quickly got to dressing up but noticed there was something off with Red. Blue expected him to be in his terminator mode - mind clear, calculating every possible game plan and its outcome at full speed. He’d seen it happen a few times, even before their battling days, and it was a tad freaky, borderline terrifying actually, but it always got him downright fucking mesmerised. And usually into some kind of trouble. As much as he loved to call Red different variations of moron, Blue knew his brain turned into a strategy supercomputer on the rare occasions he chose to apply himself.

Stalling by taking forever to choose an outfit of all things was typically not part of the show. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Red waved him off and went on to dig through Blue’s backpack after he’d exhausted his own lineup of t-shirts. Was he trying to match clothes? They seemed way off the usual style and colours he preferred. And then it hit him. 

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. You look completely different. I don’t think anyone but your own mother would recognise you.” 

Red considered this for a few seconds, then finally settled on one of Blue’s worn-out metal band tees.

“Put on a jacket as well, you’ll look weird prancing around without one.” As he thought they were ready to go, he saw him reach for the hat. “Uh-uh, put it down. Going incognito means ditching the hat.” 

Blue tried not to smile as the ugly thing was hesitantly placed back on the ground.

***

They left Alakazam at the Centre at the bottom of Mt. Silver. The nurse seemed puzzled by another kid’s presence there, but she knew Blue well by now, so she bought the lie that Red was an advanced member of the Battling club here for some special training under his patronage. 

The flight to Cerulean was short and so was the cave exploration. Mewtwo wasn’t there and there were no signs of it visiting recently.

“So what now?” The million Pokedollar question.

No answer.

“Well, first thing’s first, we get you to a hospital for the voice. No, we get you to your mom, then the hospital. High school exams are in a few months, so I can tutor you. You could come to Viridian with me or stay in Pallet, or g-” He stopped when he saw Red slowly shaking his head with a smile that was anything but joyful. Blue knew what it meant. “Why?! Why would you keep looking?! Don’t you wanna be free?”

_ Not like this. _

“Why the hell not? I get it now, it’s not evil, it doesn’t want to be, so just leave it alone! Maybe it’s tired of you anyway. Did you ever think of that, huh?”

Red huffed, amused, but far from convinced.  _ I know it’s not evil, why do you think I’ve been trying so hard? But it’s also traumatised and obviously can’t control its own power. I have to find it before someone gets hurt. _

“You, you, you. Why does it always have to be you?”

_ Who else?  _ Another million Pokedollar question.

“Fuck it, I’ll go. Maybe it likes me more now. We have a connection, I understand it, I’ll find it and train it.”

Blue really wanted to punch that bittersweet, borderline condescending smile off Red’s face.  _ You can’t. You have a life. I can’t take that away from you. _

“Excuse me? Who the fuck’s asking you? You’re not the boss of me. My life’s shit anyway. Maybe I want to be a roaming trainer. Hell yeah! Lizzie and I will travel the world and battle all those crazy mafia bastards! Just you wait, we’ll be legends!” Blue was pacing around, emphasising his grand plan by waving his hands like a maniac, while Red was apparently so done with him, he’d closed his eyes and was taking deep, measured breaths. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I boring you?! You can have all the naps you want at your own house, so let’s go.”

“Happy birthday.” It was quiet, even for a whisper. Time seemed to stop for a few seconds, in which the cave grew deafeningly silent, as Blue’s mind went haywire. 

He could feel his heartbeat resonating in every pore of his body, thumping all his thoughts into oblivion. And then he saw red. He wanted to throw a rock at him, but he didn’t  _ actually _ want to throw a rock at him, but he wanted to punch something, so he kicked his foot into the ground, hoisting what little dust was there up above.

“Why are you doing this to me?! My family’s so dysfunctional, my dad had to off himself to escape them, while Daisy and gramps lied about it through their teeth to save face. Out of the four fucking friends I have, two of them I barely speak to anymore, and the one actually on this continent, I can’t even talk to properly, because I know she blames me for  _ your _ disappearance, along with half the country. And now you wanna leave me too? For what? To keep feeding your fucking hero complex?! Guess what, you’re not the only person in the world who’s not just gonna kill an abused Pokemon and you’re completely paranoid for thinking everyone’s after it. But, no, of course, it has to be the mighty fucking Red who saves the day or the fucking Earth might just stop spinning.” Red’s mouth was slightly open, but no words were coming out. “Oh what, now that you can suddenly talk, you’ve got nothing to say to me? You know what? Fine. Mewtwo hasn’t suffered enough, it’s gotta have you on its ass as well, so fine, go chase it and leave me fucking be. Good riddance!”

Blue stormed out of the cave, jumped onto Pidgeot’s back, and bolted away from Cerulean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: Blue was having a nightmare where corpses come back to life. Irl, no lab under the sun would (legally) be dissecting or attacking live animals. If you're curious, there's an actual researcher (!!!!) in the comments of this ch who explains how it works in real labs.
> 
> Blue suffers, represses, and blows up part 875439. Poor Red was not expecting that reaction.  
> I feel like a shitty discount Dumas leaving on such a cliffhanger, so I've already written the next chapter and will post next week. (minor spoiler: things get better, I promise I don't enjoy making my characters go through traumatic shit)
> 
> About comments: They're so amazing and like the biggest motivation to keep working on this thing, so I'm immensely grateful for each and every one. I become an overexcited puppy and reply to everything because ily so much for taking the time. I'm also stupid and completely forgot that you get spammed with an email whenever I reply. Sorry about that. I promise to try and control myself and only reply if you've asked a question (or if I really have sth to say other than a big fat thank you, which will probably still go into gushing territory, but pls forgive if that happens)


	14. Chapter 14

“Welcome back, Champion Blue!” The nurse’s voice was way too bubbly for this early in the morning.

“How’s Alakazam?” He was a bit of a dick for skipping past the pleasantries. Mt. Silver’s nurse was always extra nice to him, addressing him with the proper titles and all, but he just wanted to…what did he want, actually? He wanted Alakazam to be okay. Then he wanted to take him and get away from that stupid mountain. Where to, though? He’d already bailed on the gym and he sure as fuck did not feel like going home…

“Physically, he’s absolutely fine,” she responded quickly, oblivious to her audience’s quick drift into inner strife land, “but I’m a tad worried about his mental assessment.”

“What do you mean? He’s never had behavioural issues. Is he unresponsive?!”

“No, no, he’s responding, but at a slower rate than usual for his intelligence class. I’ve contacted the resident therapist at the League Centre. He’ll be here in around half an hour to perform a more thorough evaluation.”

“Half an hour? I’ll just fly him up to the League or take him to Viridian.”

“Oh, well, the doctor is already on his way and Viridian’s Centre is usually busier, so it might take longer to get to your Alakazam or rush his session if they’re really overwhelmed. I’d strongly suggest that you wait here. Oh! Here’s your friend. He’ll help you kill time.”

Red had just burst through the door, his face alone sending Blue into another fit of blind anger. He took a deep breath and turned back to the nurse.

“Call the League security, I want him out of here.” The nurse looked beyond confused, tilting her head to the side and making no movements towards the phone. 

“Lady, this person does not have the necessary badges to be allowed here and is no longer under my patronage. For his own safety, get him off the premises now.”

Blue could hear annoyed grunts from behind but refused to turn around. The nurse was still not calling. 

“Um, wouldn’t it be faster if you escort him out? It would take a while for security to get here from Victory Road…”

“Goddamn it, I’m not escorting him anywhere. I want him gone, so would you just pick up the phone, please!”

She seemed startled enough to reach for the phone without any more questions, but just as she’d gotten ahold of it, Red sped past and slammed his trainer license on the counter. The nurse’s eyes widened at the name, but she still held onto the phone. Red started shuffling through his backpack, taking out his badge holder, his health insurance card, even his old library card, all of which had the same name written in bold, black characters.

The dial tone beeping from the earpiece was the only sound for a few seconds until Blue scoffed and averted his eyes from the scene. 

“How outrageous! This shameless delinquent has found my late rival’s property and is exploiting his memory to get access to forbidden areas. Report him to the authorities!”

Red was glaring, so Blue glared back, their staring contest only interrupted when the nurse spoke in a weak voice, “Champion Red is dead?”

“Well, he’s dead to me!” Blue hissed.

The menace had the audacity to sigh. Sigh?! Like he wasn't the one who'd barged in here after being explicitly told to fuck off.

“Whatever,” Blue turned around and marched towards the trainer’s quarters.

He probably should’ve gotten a room, but he wasn’t going back there, so he turned towards the lounge area and dropped down on the tiniest couch he’d ever seen. Why was this Centre so fucking underfunded? A sink, a tiny-ass sofa, and a TV older than life itself were what passed for a lounge? And screw that, not even a Pokemon psychiatrist on-site in one of the most dangerous areas in the country? Simply atrocious. 

He kicked his shoes off because even when fucking furious, Blue Oak was not a goddamn barbarian. After barely a few minutes of being curled up into an angry ball and peacefully screeching in his head, he heard quiet steps. Too quiet to be anyone but the last person he wanted in his space right now.

“Piss off already!”

The tiny couch dipped as another body sat onto it. At least shitface had strong enough self-preservation instincts to keep away. He heard typing, but he’d already turned his phone off at the onslaught of texts during his flight here. Ha! Blue 1, jackass 0. 

It didn’t take the vermin too long to realise there was no phone going off at his texts.

_ Talk to me _ , was harshly scratched into Blue’s forearm before he managed to tear it away from those pincers and retreat it into his ball of solitude.

He was left alone for a while, with the only sound being the nemesis’ deep breathing. Which was also annoying. Why did he have to breathe so much?

“Don’t ignore me.”

So he really could talk. Or whisper. Or not, because a few seconds after he finished growling the sentence, his breathing became erratic, turning into that same voiceless choking sound still haunting Blue from a night months ago when Red had almost suffocated in front of him.

“I told you not to try that again! How are you so stupid?!” he shouted, as he tried to rub the idiot’s back and somehow stop him from dying of whisper-choking.

It finally passed and, after making sure he was breathing steadily, Blue punched his shoulder and curled back into his ball.

The claws were on him again.

“Oh, quit it and go!” he made the mistake of turning around to shout in his face, so bitchass immediately began signing until Blue slammed his hands. 

“What! What more do we have to say?! You know how this goes – my life turns to shit, I blame you for everything, and then you leave, so let it play out already.”

He hated how docile his voice got by the end, but God, he was so tired. Weeks of sleep deprivation came crashing down on him, robbing him of almost all the fight he had left. Almost.

At the next attempt to be dragged out of his re-formed ball, he turned around and faced Red, gathering the little energy he could muster into a calm but firm tone. 

“Fine. Here’s one for your guilty conscience. Even when you think you’re doing something good, you’re being selfish, reckless, and a massive hypocrite, and no, don’t give me that look, because you know that at the slightest chance to play hero again, you were ready to ditch everything you supposedly stood for. That you’re guilty of.”

Blue pinched the meat of his palm to curb the irrational anger raising its ugly head again. He really needed to get to the fucking point already. He owed Red this much.

“But it’s not your fault that my parents are dead, or that gramps and Daisy are liars, or that I’m too insufferable to have any real friends. Even an asshole like you is too good for me.” Red was shaking his head and signing in his face, but Blue closed his eyes and continued. “And it wasn’t your fault that you were a better trainer during the Championship battle. Or that my own grandfather and everyone else likes you more, because frankly, why wouldn’t they?” He got a push in the collarbone and symbols rapidly scraped into his skin, but he refused to acknowledge any of them, keeping his eyes firmly shut. “You’re free to go. I promise I won’t tell anyone what happened. Go wherever you want and do whate-”

A forehead collided with his own, headbutting him so hard, he almost fell off the couch. His brain was emptied of anything but pain. Whining, he curled into a ball again, pressing hard against the pulsating of his head that would surely grow into a massive bruise. His first semblance of returning brain activity was primal anger, jolting him back on his knees and refilling his shouting capacity.

“Holy fuck! Are you insane?! Are you actually clinically fucking ins-” a piercing poke into his chest sent Blue right back on his ass, his neck crashing against the sofa’s arm.

Red prowled above him, his eyes slits, as his nail cut right into Blue’s chest. 

_ Stop ignoring me. _

He’d never seen him this mad, but goddamn it if Blue wasn’t just as fucking furious. Giving him a free pass and a clean slate, just to be assaulted. Two could play that game.

Despite the painful thump in his head, Blue gathered as much momentum as he could from what little space there was between them and bashed his forehead against Red’s to give him a sweet taste of his own medicine.

Damn, that shit hurt! The ringing in his head was so loud now, he barely noticed being shoved off the couch until he was already crashing into the floor. Something way too close to smugness was gliding across Red’s peering face above, so Blue grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him down as well.

A stray elbow hit him near the ribs, after which a fist squared him in the stomach, knocking his breath out, but not harshly enough to stop him from following suit with a knee that hit somewhere near the bastard’s hipbone. He missed the balls, but it still made the nemesis curl upon himself, buying Blue a few precious seconds in which he rolled away, putting some distance between himself and Red’s clawing.

He’d barely taken a breath before the pest was shakily coming to stand on his knees, but Blue would be damned if he let him win now. Ignoring his still choked-off breathing, he pulled himself up, using whatever energy adrenalin could supply to launch himself straight back on Red and pin him down like he’d done in the cave.

Tough luck. Before he could get a hold of the lanky arm and twist it, his own wrist was grabbed and he was thrown off, then immediately pulled up by two freakishly strong hands, one trapping his body against Red’s, as the other locked his head into a chokehold.

Fucking monster had the brute force down, but his technique was off. Blue wriggled around until he managed to squirm his mouth to the biceps trapping his head. He bit down, causing the hold to falter momentarily, before getting tighter again. Blue had no choice but to dig his teeth until there was metal on his tongue.

He was winning, he could taste victory in the blood, right until a hand came up to his face and tightly grasped his nose. Fuck, fuck, fuck! He tried to keep biting, but his stupid body needed stupid oxygen, so he finally opened his mouth to draw a gasping breath. The hand previously trapping his arms was still busy squeezing his nose, so Blue jabbed his freed elbow into the body behind. As Red let off a pained wheeze, Blue rolled away and curled up to collect his breathing.

The broken panting filling the room eventually turned into even breathing with the occasional grunt as they lay with their backs to each other.

Blue didn’t know how much time passed before he heard shuffling. Pain was still lingering throughout his body, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to jolt back the adrenaline. By some miracle, he managed to turn, anticipating an attack that he couldn’t fight off. 

To Blue’s surprise, the nemesis hadn’t gotten up either. He’d turned around to lie on his right side, staring at him with a blank face. 

Blue stared back. He wondered how his own expression looked. His head just felt kind of empty.

The more he looked at the face in front of him, the less he wanted to punch it. Now that he thought about it, as mad as Red had driven him over the years, there weren’t many times in which their fights had gotten physical. It usually passed with Red glaring while Blue shouted, after which they’d ignore each other for a few days until one of them got bored enough to bury the hatchet so that they could go back to their normal routine. Sure, they’d gotten a few scrapes here and there from some rougher or downright stupid games (human Rollout competitions were only fun until someone got a concussion), but it’d rarely involved any intentional harm.

“Have we ever fought like this?”

He barely realised he’d broken the silence until Red shrugged in response.

_ Not really.  _ After a bit more thinking, something seemed to click and he showed three fingers.

“Third grade? Does that count?” They’d snuck out Daisy and Delia’s old Dowsing Machines to hunt for Pokeballs around Pallet. The only rule was finders keepers, so when a beep had rung on both of their machines, they’d started racing to it as if their lives depended on it. Blue had tripped and accidentally grabbed onto Red, taking him down too. They’d desperately tried to stop the other from reaching the item first, getting a bit rougher by the end of it. Well, neither had won since Leaf had used their brawl to get to what’d turned out to be a potion. She’d sprayed the whole bottle on them while singing some Unovan song about “who let the pup out” and barking like a Herdier. Each bark had been a spray of Potion on their heads until Red and Blue had both ended up wet and miserable as Leaf was victoriously grinning above them.

Red huffed at the memory and shifted to lie on his back, which freed his right hand. Blue straightened up on his elbow to watch him sign,  _ You broke my toe, so it counts _ .

“Nope. You broke it when I dodged and you kicked a rock. Entirely your fault, dumbass.” 

They’d been clawing at each other on the grass and Red had indeed broken his toe when he’d tried to kick Blue in the shins and missed. Well, Blue had been pulling his hair at the time, so the kick hadn’t been completely unwarranted.

_ A year of karate, yet you still fight like a sewer Rattata.  _

The sass of it sparked some of Blue’s previous ire. “It’s called winning, bitch!” Although, even he had to admit the attempt to knee him in the nuts mere minutes ago had been a low blow. And then there was the biting…“Shit, fine, I’m sorry about the balls, but fuck you and your chokehold. How the fuck was I supposed to get away from your death grip?”

_ I don’t know, by not cheating, maybe? _

“Oh, get over yourself. This wasn’t a spar. You start fights, you get bitten.”

_ I didn’t start.  _ Red’s face was stone-cold conviction.

“You serious? You headbutted me! While I was trying to resolve this maturely!”

_ You were shutting me out. _

“Are you?!... _ You _ , of all people, saying that  _ I _ ’m shutting you out? Let me remind you who in this room went to fight the Yakuza without telling me. Oh, and also  _ disappeared for two years  _ without telling me. I don’t owe you shit!”

_ Completely different situations. _

Blue’s outrage caused him to let out a high-pitched noise he wasn’t even aware a human could produce. Trying to find the right words to even begin to express how ridiculous Red was being resulted in the elaborate answer to sum up this whole situation. “Fuck you. Seriously.”

There was another staring match before Blue huffed, but, as he was turning to face the wall away from Red, his eyes drifted across his arm, which had a giant purplish bitemark with a bit of blood smudged around.

Now glaring at the wall, Blue hissed, “Go get your arm patched up and get out of here.”

Nothing happened.

He waited a bit more but sensed no movement, so he turned around with an annoyed tsk. 

“Are you fucking deaf now too?! Go to the nurse!”

He had to poke him before Red finally faced him, only to sign,  _ It’s just a bite _ , before turning away again, looking oh so irritated to be bothered about the gashing wound in his arm.

“How dumb are you?! You know how many microorganisms live in a human mouth? Enough to give you an infection, so go get it cleaned.”

_ Your bite, your mouth, your microorganisms. If it bothers you that much, clean it yourself. _

“Holy shit, how are you so petty?! And what’s with you and refusing professional medical care?”

Red crossed his arms and stubbornly stared at the black screen of the tiny TV.

“You’re such a baby, honestly.” Yet he had been the one to bite him in the first place. If it festered and Red suddenly got sick wherever he was going…would serve him right! But what if it was somewhere super remote again? “Fucking hell, fine,” Blue grunted as he stood up and walked to the sink in the corner.

After washing his hands, he got the small first aid kit from his backpack and kneeled next to the idiot, who was still glaring at innocent furniture but had at least uncrossed his arms, allowing Blue to get to work with practiced ease.

This wasn’t their first rodeo. Both of them had gotten their fair share of scrapes during their time on Mt. Silver. Going through the same old routine of sanitising and bandaging felt almost comforting in a way that slightly blurred the anger clouding his mind.

As he worked, Blue remembered something that had been gnawing at him for a while.

“How come you were whispering? I thought the doctors told you not to.”

Red raised his unbitten arm to pat the couch. Blue looked around, found Red’s phone under a pillow, and handed it over.

**You** : You really think that would’ve stopped me?

“God, you’re such an ingrate. At least drop the sass while I’m bandaging you out of the goodness of my heart.”

**You** : It was mostly an honest question.

“Yeah, sure, fine, you’re stupid and stubborn enough to do the exact opposite of what a doctor would tell you. So what? You couldn’t?”

**You** : It hurt a lot whenever I tried back then and sometimes the choking happened, so I stopped. When I tried again now, it didn’t hurt as much, so I kept practicing. Took me a week to get ‘Happy birthday.’ 

Blue read it while tightening the bandage. 

“Was that your surprise?”

Red nodded as he kept watching the turned-off TV.

“Well,” Blue gulped. What does he say here? Shit. He’d sort of figured it out, but he had to be sure and God, it was so disgustingly sweet, he could feel his blood sugar spiking. Does he say ‘thank you’? No! Because fuck Red. No matter how sappy he got, he was still leaving. 

Blue realised he still hadn’t said anything. Logic. Logic was his new best friend. 

“You need to stop this. At least until you get examined again. The doctors told you not to for a reason. You might be causing more damage. Visit a clinic once you go, wherever that is.”

The words hung in the air surprisingly heavily, so Blue chose to busy himself with putting back all the supplies and washing his hands. He was about to get his stuff and go check if Alakazam was done, but Red shoved a screen in his face right as he reached for his backpack.

**You** : Did you flip out because of the whispering? Because the doctors told me not to?

For a second there, Blue stood frozen, not knowing whether to hysterically laugh at how wrong Red was or yell at him. Maybe he could punch him again. It’d been surprisingly cathartic. But he still felt sore, so another fight was probably not a great idea. He seemed to be done with shouting as well...Fine, then, honesty would have to suffice.

“I got mad because you’d just told me you were, well,  _ are _ leaving, and then you hit me with this,” he gestured a vague circle and went for his bag again, but then Red tapped his hand and stared at him puzzled, which only brought back Blue’s previous ire. “God, how do you not get it? I didn’t want you to leave anyway, but then you pull this shit out of nowhere, so I didn’t want you to go even more, but of course you’ll fucking go because you’re you and you’re an asshole who leaves whenever he fucking wants to and I realised there’s not a thing I can do about it, so I got really mad, okay? I didn’t mean to put all that shit on you, but I’ve had a rough few months, so yeah, I blew up. I get why you’re going. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

**You** : What was that about your dad? And Leaf blaming you?

Did he want to talk about that? Not really. Not at all. At least he didn’t feel like he’d explode anymore, so that was a plus.

Red demandingly clicked his finders, snapping Blue back to reality.

“Oh, what? Does it even matter? You’re leaving, remember? I don’t know when or if I’ll see you again, so why would I tell you jack?”

**You** : I’m not leaving forever. I’ll do my best to find it, but I can’t search everywhere.

“Yeah, no shit…From what I saw, I think it can also live underwater, so it could literally be anywhere.”

**You** : I know. I’ll check a few places and, if it’s not there, I’ll come back.

The ‘come back’ part did register, but Blue willingly ignored it, trying to find the catch. 

“And what are you gonna do with it once you find it? Cuz that’s been the main issue for about a fucking year already.”

**You** : I don’t know yet. It really depends on what condition I find it in, but I’m going to think of a way in which I can come back down. If it wants to cooperate, I think the best option is to start exposing it to civilisation bit by bit until it can integrate into my team. I’ve actually been thinking of doing that for a while, but it was still on hunger strike and then last night happened.

“Oh, don’t you blame this on me!”

Red rapidly shook his head and held his hands up like a criminal under arrest. Blue puffed out the bit of air he’d been saving for yelling and tried to x-ray vision his way into Red’s soul.

“And what are those places you’re thinking of?”

**You** : Cinnabar, the Rocket hideouts, and maybe Sinnoh because it likes the cold.

Blue couldn’t help but snort at that last part. “Really now?”

He stared at Red. Red stared back. Then he huffed and started typing again.

**You** : I’m just going to look around but only because it’s cold and there’s a lot of deserted areas. If I happen to run into those Galactic thugs, then yeah, I’ll do something about them.

Hah. Blue couldn’t help a grin. Knowing he’d been right all along was a good farewell gift. 

“You know you have a problem, right?”

Red crossed his arms and stared at the TV some more. Blue kept up a knowing smirk as he waited for him to crumble first. And he did.

**You** : I might not even leave and, if I do, I’ll come back, so stop smiling. It’s creepy.

Blue’s smile fell. There it was again. “Come back? As in come back to Kanto? Nippon? The planet? I know they discovered evidence for Pokemon living in outer space. Have you found one and not told me?! God damn it, Red,” Blue found his rant interrupted when Red suddenly sprang up and roughly pushed him to sit on the couch, tossing Blue’s backpack on the floor as he typed. When he seemed done, he also plopped himself down and handed over the phone.

**You** : Planet Earth, Nippon, Kanto, Pallet, Cedar Street 14. I don’t know the GPS coordinates of my house, but I think you know where it is.

“Fine, I get the point. What is it then? Timescale? You’ll come back when you’re 30? Bet you’ll be bald by then. And have hair sticking out your ears.”

Red blinked at Blue for a few seconds, then went back to typing with a disapproving shake of his head. Prick. Blue was already looking forward to cracking eggs on his bald head. Or stealing his toupée.

**You** : As I said, I might not go. If I find a lead, I’ll follow it. If not, I’ll come back. Whatever happens, I’ll do my best to be back by entrance exam season.

“You? In high school?”

Red nodded as if he hadn’t spent the past year deferring Blue’s every attempt to get him to study.

“Since when do you even want to go to school? And what do you mean by entrance exam season? Because that’s in like two months. Unless you’re talking private schools? Or next year? And what constitutes ‘a lead’? That could literally be anyth-” 

Red’s pleading stare immediately kicked up Blue’s trained instinct to shut the fuck up. He thought he’d long won over his overtalkative nature that bombarded Red with questions before he could respond. Those last 24 hours, however, seemed to have brought it back.

As Blue sat waiting for the next message, he was kind of tempted to nag Red to just sign so that they could have a proper back and forth. Still, he knew how self-conscious Red could be about the talking issue. Blue already felt guilty enough about his big mouth unintentionally bringing it back up, so instead of opening that can of worms too, he chose to keep waiting.

**You** : I want to find Mewtwo because I care and I know you do too, so I wouldn’t be doing it for my sake only. But if I can’t find anything, I’m not going to look forever. I realised a few things up there. I love having my space and I love being able to train without people bothering me but, even for me, the solitude is getting too much. I read all about other people’s lives and just sit there, missing out on everything. That won’t really change if I replace the mountain with an endless chase. So, yes, I do want to come back and get through high school because I do want to live in a society with both Pokemon and people. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but I don’t want to close too many doors by being a dropout.

_ Now, will you tell me what’s going on with you? _ Red demandingly signed when he saw Blue was done reading.

“I-. No. Wait, what?! What the hell?! In Cerulean, you seemed like you were leaving forever. You even said shit like ‘ooh, you have a life, I can’t take that away from you,’” Blue quoted in a high-pitched mocking voice. “How are you so reasonable all of a sudden?! And for the record, I don’t trust you. Don’t think I’ve let my guard down. For all I know, you’re pulling this out of your ass just so that I don’t call the cops on you.”

_ Are we seriously doing this again? _ Red signed, looking the embodiment of exasperation. 

He pointed to his phone, which Blue grudgingly handed over. 

**You** : I was freaked out in Cerulean and still didn’t have a solid plan, but even then, I wasn’t about to leave forever. You started talking about coming back immediately, which obviously I wasn’t gonna do without trying everything I could first. Then you were talking about going yourself, which is just stupid and unnecessary because you can barely take a day off. I was going to brainstorm with you, but I wanted to at least acknowledge your birthday before we got into dealing with this. I thought it was obvious that I’d still text and keep you updated. I had no idea you’d go nuclear. Why do you always expect the worst of me?

“Because you’re the one with a track record of leaving without a trace!”

**You** : I was eleven and I had no idea what I was getting into! How could you think I’d do that again after this past year?!

Red barely gave him enough time to read the text before hitting him with the phone.

“Ow!”

Blue rubbed his now sore shoulder as Red angrily smashed the keyboard again, after which he practically threw the device at Blue’s stomach.

“Ow!!”

Blue was about to throw the stupid thing back, but the intensity with which Red pointed at it made him read the text after all.

**You** : And how could you hide all that stuff from me?! I tell you every single thing that happens, which I know is not much, but I thought it was enough to make you trust me. I thought you were telling me everything too. Do you know how much it sucks that I have to choose between leaving you like this or risking Mewtwo getting caught? And If I leave, I’ll never be sure if you’re really okay or if you’re just not telling me things. If something major happens and I don’t come back because you haven’t told me, how do you think that’d feel?! You say I’m selfish but take a look at yourself first!

Red had gotten up to pace around and frown at random objects.

“You’d come back for me?” Blue muttered, not at all expecting the explosion of rage that set off on Red’s face.

_ Screw you for even asking that! Why is it so hard for you to trust me? _ Red’s glare was more pained than accusatory, which felt like another hit in the gut.

“How-?! Of course it’s hard for me to trust you! You were gone for so long without a word, so fucking sue me for thinking you were about to do it again!”

Red came back to the couch in angry strides and yanked his phone.

**You** : I’m done apologising for that! You were so mad after our battle, I thought I was the last person you wanted to see. When I realised I’d buried myself in so much shit, I thought you were the only person who could help, but you were already on another continent. I’m not the only asshole who leaves, so stop putting all the blame on me!

“Wha-? So you’re blaming me for that now?! How the fuck was I supposed to know what was happening with you?!”

_ You could’ve asked! _

“And you could’ve told me!”

_ After the way you left the League?! _

“Yes!"

Red’s eyes widened a bit, but the anger was still very much there when he turned away to go stomping around again. Blue sunk further into the couch and crossed his arms, choosing to count the tiles of the ceiling, since the speed with which Red was pacing was making his head spin.

After a while, the couch dipped again. There were no phone screens or symbols scraped on Blue’s arms, so he didn’t move his head from the back of the sofa until he remembered that his Pokemon might be waiting for him.

“Look, I have to go check on Alakazam.”

Red acknowledged him with a curt nod. Blue was about to leave until a sudden pang in his stomach made him pause.

After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “You hungry?”

A few seconds passed by without an answer until finally, Red nodded.

“Sweet or salty?”

He showed one finger. Blue left it at that and headed towards the reception.

The nurse was happy to inform him that the doctor and Alakazam had just begun their session.

“Wow, it took them a while to get here. Should I go in there? Maybe I can help.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m sure you’ve been told before that psychological evaluation sessions are private. It helps Pokemon feel more relaxed about sharing their experiences. I’ll inform you as soon as they finish, so please be patient.” He noticed the nurse’s eyes flickering to his forehead before she continued, “There seems to be a bruise on your head…”

“Oh, yeah, tripped and fell, but it doesn’t hurt,” Blue quickly reported, hoping he didn’t sound too suspicious. He probably did. “Thanks for asking,” he added for safety, getting a cautious smile in return, which made him feel even guiltier about snapping on the poor woman before. She must have enough wackos to deal with here without adding screeching brats to the list. “Umm…I’m sorry for my behaviour earlier. Or for any noises you might have heard...My friend and I were having a disagreement and tensions ran a little high.”

“No problem! I hope you fix things soon.”

“Um, we’ll be fine…I think. Speaking of him, you saw the name, didn’t you?”

The nurse’s smile didn’t falter. “I’m glad he’s alive, but anything beyond that is none of my business. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything about him being here.”

“Thank you, he’ll appreciate that,” Blue bowed and swiftly headed for the new vending machine.

They’d gotten a fancier model. You could now pay with a subway card, but the snacks inside were pretty much the same thing. He got cheese and BBQ flavoured Pretz, a milk chocolate bar, and a pack of those tiny chocolate mushrooms Red could eat his weight in. There was a limited baked soy flour edition of the mushrooms, so he got one of those too, out of curiosity. He did have water somewhere in his backpack, but he deserved a lemonade after the day he’d had, and, in all fairness, so did Red.

Reaching the lounge without dropping anything was a challenge, yet so worth it when Blue got to dunk the mountain of snacks on Red. He probably would’ve gotten a can of lemonade thrown at his head if it wasn’t for the chocolate mushrooms turning into the centre of Red’s world from the moment he saw the tiny box. The wrapping was quickly dealt with before Red shoved a fistful in his mouth, his features melting into the kind of pure glee that only junk food could elicit. That utter joy lasted a few seconds before the realisation that he’d almost eaten the entire thing in a single bite dawned on Red and he guiltily offered the ravished box, where two surviving mushrooms quivered in fear of sharing their brethren’s fate.

“Nah, you can have ‘em,” Blue declined, trying his best not to laugh his ass off at the scene that’d just unfolded.

Red shrugged and gulped down the other two, putting a gruesome end to their misery. He reached for the other box before he’d even swallowed and tore it open.

“Nuh-uh. I wanna try those, so don’t inhale them,” Blue said, just in time to make Red carefully drop some of the light brown candies from his hand back into the box. Blue handed over his own half-full pack of cheese Pretz, which Red took in exchange for his precious mushrooms. In Blue’s opinion, they were better than the milk chocolate ones, with a richer flavour and a more elegant sweetness. He took another two and gave back the box with a good handful still inside.

They finished the rest of the snacks quickly. Well, Red did, since Blue wasn’t that big on junk on an empty stomach. That and he’d noticed the desperation with which Red was stuffing his mouth.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Blue shook his head in disapproval. “How many times have I told you to stop eating trash for dinner. It’s barely eight and you’re already starving.”

Red shrugged before signing,  _ I didn’t have dinner. _

“What? Why?”

_ Fell asleep waiting for you. _

Ouch. Being so late last night hadn’t really passed through Blue’s mind in the last few hours, yet the guilt was now crawling back to haunt him. But how was he supposed to know that Red would fucking starve?! And they hadn’t mentioned anything about dinner plans…Well, Blue did usually bring food. And ate it with Red, regardless of how long ago his previous meal had been…But…if only Red knew about the day Blue’d had, he would totally understand! But he didn’t know, because Blue hadn’t told him, so he couldn’t expect him to understand anything and it really sucked because now he remembered why he’d needed to go bury himself in ashes and he wanted to vent to Red so badly and-

Two fingers loudly clicked next to his face, taking Blue out of his head.

_ It’s not a big deal. I would’ve had the same for dinner anyway _ . Red made a circle with his hand above all the snack wrappings.  _ I know you had work, so it's fine. _

“No!” Blue’s loud exclamation was accompanied by a well-fucking-timed voice crack. He cleared his throat, took a chug of lemonade, and tried to mentally prepare himself for this. Looking at Red was too much, so instead, he looked down at the can in his hand. “I-. I didn’t ditch you to go shovel fucking ash for the hundredth night in a row, okay.” He pulled at the tab, twisting it back and forth as he continued. “Remember that NLC briefing I had to do in Saffron right before the volcano popped? Well, I tried to meet up with Daisy there and-” the can’s tab broke off and Blue stared at it for a moment before tossing the stupid thing into the open lid and spilling everything. Absolutely everything. How elusive Daisy had been, what he’d found inside her apartment, how he‘d had absolutely no fucking clue how to interpret any of it.

“And you know what the sickest part is? Me! I can’t make myself give a shit and it’s fucking disgusting. He’s my dad, but the most I can do is get pissed off at Daisy and gramps for hiding it. I took on all that volunteer crap because otherwise, I would’ve just gone on with my life. What’s wrong with me?!”

_ You never knew him. _

“So what?! That’s not an excuse.”

_ Do you want to be sad? _

“Yes-. No! Maybe. I don’t know, it’d be a start. I fucking bawled my eyes out when I lost a stupid Pokemon battle, but I can’t even-” Blue didn’t know what he wanted to say, so he pulled at his hair, bringing his head down to his knees.

Right away, two hands gently tried to pry his head free. When that didn’t work, the skin of his wrists was painfully twisted until he was forced to let go.

Before Blue had the chance to hiss back, Red quickly signed,  _ Do you remember my grandma? _

The question caught him unprepared. He did remember the frail old lady who’d lived in one of the bedrooms at Red’s. She’d had that cool tall bed and an old Spearow who handed her watches and their parts from the bedside table and pecked them sometimes. She couldn’t play with them much, but they still went to her room to hear stories about her kicking ass with her Pokemon when she was young. Sometimes, she would read their palms and tell them what Pokemon they’d get at what age. If they'd managed to sneak her a soda without Delia catching them, their palms suddenly outlined a future of catching legendaries and being Champions, Prime Ministers, astronauts, or their dream job of the week’d been.

“She was really nice. And funny,” Blue answered simply.

She’d died when he was five, a few weeks after her Spearow, and that’d been the first funeral he remembered going to. First, he’d gone to Red’s house with Daisy and gramps. The next day, they’d all gone to the temple and eaten and slept there. He'd snuck out with Red during the night to look around. Some graves had Pokemon urns arranged around them, so they’d checked out the dead teams and argued which person would be the Graveyard Champion. They’d also seen a Gastly and tried to chase it, but it’d run away. The actual funeral had been held the next day. He remembered how hot it’d been and that his clip-on tie itched, but he’d stopped whining when he’d looked at Red’s grandma lying in the casket, dressed in white, with Spearow’s urn watching over her. She’d looked beautiful and very peaceful, plus Red had spent a lot of time in Blue’s house in the months after, so he hadn’t really thought that funerals were that bad at the time.

_ I never saw mom cry, so I didn’t cry either. Grandma’s friends came by and cried sometimes, but mom never did. She just moved grandma’s stuff to grandpa’s office and spent a lot of time there working. _

“It’s not the same. You were a kid and your mom had to take care of you, so she had to work. I just did it for myself.”

_ And that’s okay too. People have different ways of dealing with that stuff. And you already knew he was dead. I think it’s normal that you’re angry, actually. _

“Of course I’m angry! You should’ve seen them yesterday – at each other’s throats about how he died.”

_ What happened? _

Blue told him about the dinner as well. He even admitted that he’d started off with an agenda to pry off answers – not his finest moment, in retrospect – but as it’d gone on, he’d just grown more and more disgusted with both of them.

“Seriously, how fucked up are we?! And now I’m sure that Daisy had known all along and didn’t tell me, even when she started to think there was more to it. I’d expect that from gramps but her?! And I still have no idea what happened to mom!”

_ Do you believe Daisy? _

“Oh, not you too! I don’t know what to believe, okay. I wish I’d taken pictures of her whole folder, but I didn’t. And, honestly, does it even matter?! It’s been thirteen years. If he was killed, it’d be hard to find them and even harder to prove anything, and, besides, if there really are people who’d assassinate someone and stage it as a suicide, I don’t want Daisy anywhere near them.”

_ That’s fair.  _ Red paused for a second. _ But it must be connected to his research, right? I mean with all those files on the scientists. Do you think any of them did i- _

“Red!”

_ Sorry,  _ Red apologised, looking down.

Blue felt like if he took one more deep breath, his lungs would explode, but he did it anyway because he wasn’t about to get into another meaningless fight.

“Obviously, she thinks it’s connected to his research, but, as I said, it doesn’t fucking matter anymore. I just want them to tell me what happened to mom and let them both rest in peace. Is that too much to ask?”

Red shook his head quickly, but something seemed to gnaw at him.

“What?”

He waved his hand like it was nothing. Blue knew him way too well for this bullshit.

“Just say what you gotta say.”

_ It’s just that…Don’t you think that if there really was foul play, the people responsible should be punished? _

“Yes, Red, they should be punished. In fact, I’m sure they’d gladly hand over evidence incriminating them, the police would gladly re-open a decade-old case deemed a suicide, and then we’ll all sing fucking kumbaya in the courthouse.”

_ Fine, I get it. _

“Do you, though? Because I know you love your vigilante Pokemon battles, but guess what – the real world isn’t all about battling. You were fighting well-known criminals, wearing their Team Rocket uniform with a giant-ass R on it that told everyone who they were and what they were about. You beat their Pokemon, the police cuffed them, and we all lived happily ever after. If my dad was killed, they didn’t brag about it. They went out of their way to make it believable and leave no evidence. Even if I managed to find them without getting killed, challenge them, and beat them, so what? It wouldn’t prove jack shit, except that I’m a fucking idiot with no self-preservation instincts.”

_ I’m not saying to barge in and demand justice, but maybe there is evidence. You can’t know for sure. _

“Yeah, well, from what I understood from Daisy’s yelling, the only thing she has are a lot of ifs and maybes and nothing solid. And gramps might be a lot of things, but he’s no fool. Do you really think he would’ve let something like this happen under his nose?”

_ Your grandpa isn’t the most considerate parent. You think he kept in touch with your dad? _

“Don’t you remember when we found that box stashed at the lab with old homework and drawings? With my dad’s name on them? And how much grandpa yelled at me when he caught us and told me to never touch his stuff without permission again? I still don’t know where he hid it. I’ve tried to find it again so many times. It had drawings! Drawings, Red! Grandpa’s never even looked at a drawing of mine!”

Deep. Fucking. Breaths. How Blue wasn’t a floating balloon from all that goddamn breathing was the real mystery here.

After a while, Red signed,  _ It’s his loss, really. You had some great Pokeball designs. _ He had a pretty convincing deadpan, except for the almost imperceptible traces of bittersweet amusement in his eyes.

Blue couldn’t help but snort. “Thanks. But I know you’re only saying that cuz I promised you’d get them free for life if I ever sold the patent.”

Red shrugged innocently, but there was a tiny smile on his face that somehow made Blue think it’d all be okay. He tried to sink deeper into the couch, but it was so damn uncomfortable.

_ You really need to talk to them. No yelling. _

“Yeah, I know. Not right now, though. I will, but I just…I need some space from them both. From the house, even. I’ve kinda been thinking of moving out, actually.”

_ The commute? Or just your grandpa? _

“Both, honestly. Seriously, it’s so annoying to bike to Viridian every. Single. Day. I have to wake up super early and it  _ really _ sucks if I forget something. Why the fuck are the laws about flying in cities the only thing that’s actually enforced in this country?! Also, the house is huge and I’m so done with taking care of it for gramps. And he steals my food, the old bastard! And he also goes in and out at weird times and is so fucking inconsiderate. He always manages to start stomping around just as I’m drifting off, so I have to spend another half an hour trying to will myself back to sleep. Even if we fix things and I can actually look at his face, I’d honestly rather not live with him. And Pallet is fucking boring! With you and Leaf there, at least I could pass the time, but now it’s just insufferable, so whenever I wanna go do anything or hang out with anyone, I still have to go to Viridian.”

Blue was definitely not expecting Red’s amused huffs as a response.

“You asshole! What? Is my suffering this funny?”

Red shook his head, still smiling.  _ No, I get you. Move out if you want to. Living alone is pretty neat. It’s just that it’s nice to hear you rant again. It’d been a while. That’s all. _

“It’s nice to hear me rant? Seriously? Yo,  _ I _ can barely listen to myself whining. How the fuck is it nice to hear me rant?” Blue asked, slightly amused but mostly just puzzled.

Red shrugged.  _ It’s comforting, I guess. _

Okay, now Blue was full-on wheezing. “Oh, man. You know, most people find shit like tea or, I don’t know, fucking candles or something  _ comforting _ .”

_ I’m special,  _ Red signed, casually shrugging with a tiny smug smile that sent Blue into another fit of high-on-sleep-deprivation laughter.

When he calmed down enough, he managed to utter, “I think I’ve ruined you too. Conditioned you to my own whining.”

Yet another shrug.  _ I can live with that. _

Blue yawned through his giggles. He really needed some sleep, but laughing was nice. Red too. Poor bastard. Such a sap. Still, kind of endearing.

“So, what’s the plan,” Blue asked through another yawn.

_ Do you want me to stay? I don’t know if I can help much, but you don’t have to go through this alone. _

That’d be nice- Red staying and coming back with him. He could help him move and shop for apartment stuff. And they could have soba when he moved in. Yeah, that’d be really nice. But then Lizzie would have to be alone. It was probably really scared…

“No, it’s fine. Mewtwo needs you too.” His eyelids were steadily drooping until he remembered something and grabbed at Red’s sleeve. “But don’t leave right now. I’ll help you pack later. And you have to text me.” Hopefully, he still sounded intelligible through all that yawning.

_ Don’t fall asleep yet,  _ was scribbled on Blue’s arm, jolting him awake.  _ What was that about Leaf? _

“Oh, that?” Blue ran a hand through his hair, pulling on it as if that'd make his brain actually work. “I don’t know. I’m being stupid, I think, but-” Another yawn escaped him. He tried removing the pillow behind his back, but it made the couch feel even worse. “It’s just…you know she’s always been closer to you…and we never talk about you…a lot of people ask, but it gets awkward. And online people say I’m a horrible friend and you ran away because I threw a tantrum. Sometimes I think she agrees with them…but I don’t know how to talk about you with her because,” Blue made a big circle with both hands as if that was enough to represent the shit they’d been in for the past year. After his hands fell, he noticed Red looking concerned “No, seriously, it’s not a big deal. I don’t think she actually thinks that, but sometimes I-. I don’t know. I don’t know what my problem is.” He covered his mouth at the next big yawn.

Fuck, it felt nice to let all this out. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but he usually avoided even thinking about this shit, let alone talking about it.

_ You’re not a bad friend.  _ Blue saw Red signing through his eyes closing.

“Mmm, sometimes I am,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you and said all that stuff about you being an asshole. And I should’ve told you about what was happening.”

Red shook his head,  _ No, it’s okay. It was a lot. _

“Yeah,” another fucking yawn. Blue rubbed against the loose spring digging into his back to freshen up. “Yeah, but it was still shitty of me. Sorry.”

Red sat there, observing his struggle against the couch before taking the pillow and shoving it behind Blue’s head. It was an improvement but not by much.

“Screw this,” Blue gave up, after a few more unsuccessful attempts to get comfortable enough for a nap. “Uncross your legs and sit up straight.”

Red seemed puzzled but obeyed without questions. Blue put the pillow a little above Red’s knees and laid his head on it, curling up on the couch like a foetus. He could hear amused huffing from above.

“Look, I fall asleep on you all the time when we watch movies. You’re a real trooper for never mentioning it, but we both know it happens, so let’s just move on.”

_ I could sit on the floor,  _ Red wrote into his arm.

“Yeah, but, no offense, I’ll sleep better if I know you can’t run away.” That and Red’s legs were a lot more comfortable than this abomination of a sofa.

He couldn’t hear the huffing anymore, but he could feel it through Red’s slight quivering, so he let out as angry of a rumble as sleepiness would allow. The trembling stopped and a hand came to lightly rub his back the way Daisy used to do when she would tell him bedtime stories almost a decade ago.

“Mmm, wake me up when Alakazam’s done,” was the last thing Blue managed to say before he was out like a light.

***

Something was threading through Blue’s hair and gently scratching his scalp. He leaned into the touch, which made it stop. That sucked. After a few seconds, it hesitantly started again. Blue tried not to move, but a sleepy mewl escaped him. It stopped again. No fair!

He was drifting off again until he felt something on his arm. Maybe a bug? Nah, too sleepy to care. Oh, wait, that could’ve been Red. He groaned, hoping it sounded like a question.

_ Awake?  _ was what Blue managed to decipher from the scribbling on his arm.

“Mhmm, how long was I out for?”

_ About an hour. _

This jolted him a bit.

“That long? No nurse yet?”

_ Nope. _

“Ughh.” Blue’s brain was awake, but he didn’t feel like getting up yet, so he turned around to lie on his back. 

“Anyone from your team ever been with a therapist for that long?”

Red thought for a bit before typing on his phone.

**You** : After the match with Giovanni. Venusaur and Lapras had really long sessions. It was an intense battle, though. Giovanni’s Pokemon went all out.

“Yeah, makes sense, I guess. Eevee was there for almost an hour after Pikabitch fainted her.” Red flinched a bit, so Blue quickly added, “But I think she was mostly worried about me. You know they’re still friends.”

“What did you do while I slept?” Blue asked, wanting to get away from the Championship conversation.

**You** : You mean aside from being your pillow?

“Hilarious.”

Red lightly dug his finger into Blue’s forehead, eliciting a frown, before typing a real answer.

**You** : Kept refreshing news sites. Mewtwo hasn’t done anything that’d make it to the news yet.

“No news is good news…”

Blue stretched his legs upwards, but that cost a lot of energy, so he let them fall over the couch’s opposite arm, his feet lightly dangling in the air. He could’ve gotten up, but that seemed like too much energy as well. He made grabs for Red’s phone and checked the trending stuff on a few social media sites. Nothing looked fishy there either, so he ended up browsing meme pages and showing the funny ones to Red. The site was in Galarian, but most of it was just pictures and Blue translated the few that had text.

He’d taught him a good few of the popular meme formats by the time the nurse finally came to call him into the therapist’s office. 

He’d already met the guy back in the League’s Centre, so they skipped the introductions and cut to the chase.

“I’ll be honest, Blue, I suspected abuse for a good half of the session.”

“Excuse me?! I would never hurt my Pokemon and this is an Alakazam, so how fucking-”

“I know, I know,” the guy nodded. Blue calmed down a bit and begrudgingly decided to let him explain. “It didn’t fit your profile and Alakazam is an S class, almost impossible for a human to hurt, but his behaviour…Well, anyway, I think he read my mind and got extremely uncooperative and very keen on defending you, so my initial theory went out the window. I’m still not exactly sure what to think. He doesn’t want to talk about whatever happened, so I was hoping you could give me some answers.”

Blue glared at the man, still offended that he’d ever thought Blue could hurt his own Pokemon. Alakazam’s health was the priority here though, so he tried his best to tone down his temper and nodded.

“Thank you. I would like to know, when was Alakazam’s most recent battle?”

“Months ago. He’s way too overlevelled, so he can’t battle much. The last one was during the Gym’s opening. The one with Cynthia.”

“Oh, I watched that on TV. Great battle!” As Blue barely acknowledged the compliment, the doctor cleared his throat and continued. “Anyways, do you remember which Pokemon Alakazam battled?”

“He one-shot her Roserade. I switched him in again later on and he fainted her Lucario after taking two hits. Her Spiritomb fainted him the next round. But he’s battled Cynthia’s team numerous times before, so I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Have there been any issues in your previous battles with Cynthia?”

“No. Our Pokemon are friends.”

“Hmm, okay then. Now tell me, if he hasn’t battled in a while, why did you bring him to the Centre in the first place?”

“I was training here and some of my other Pokemon had taken a few hits,” Blue said, keeping his tone as even as possible and hoping the doctor wouldn’t double-check his story with the nurse. “I just handed in everyone out of habit. I didn’t expect there to be issues with Alakazam.”

“Hmm, I see,” the therapist mumbled, looking deep in thought.

As the doctor was trying to figure this out, Blue was thinking about a way in which he could tell what’d really happened without revealing some key facts. Shit. Alakazam was much smarter than him. If he hadn’t found an excuse, how could Blue? But then again, by the sound of things, Alakazam was far from okay after whatever had happened between him and Mewtwo.

“Umm-” Shit. Would that work? Well, he didn’t have any other ideas, so fuck it. “It’s not exactly a battle, but Alakazam got hit yesterday. My grandpa is currently conducting research on some veteran Pokemon and I was helping out. I think it’s classified, so I can’t say much, but there was a high-level Espeon there who got a bit aggressive. Alakazam took the attack to protect another Pokemon.”

“Wha- well, yes, Blue, that’s most definitely what caused it. You must surely know that Psychic Pokemon perceive information at a much higher rate than us, so their attacks are often vivid visions that overwhelm the senses. Imagine what a war veteran could’ve traumatised your Alakazam with! I’m surprised that a trainer of your calibre waited so long to take him to a Centre.” The doctor sounded beyond outraged at Blue’s presumable stupidity.

One more person to look down on him. A small price to pay if it’d get Alakazam the help he needed, so Blue took the scolding in stride and meekly nodded. He didn’t even have to fake the guilt, as he already felt like an absolute piece of shit for letting his Pokemon get hurt while saving his sorry ass.

“Well,” the doctor continued after a deep sigh, “I have a Beheeyem from Unova, who specialises in erasing traumatic memories. I don’t know how well it will work on a high-level, S-class Psychic, but it’s worth a try.”

“How does that work? Will he forget what he saw?”

“Not exactly. Beheeyem more so severs the emotional connection associated with the memory. He will know what happened, but he won’t feel anything about that particular memory if that makes sense.”

Blue nodded.

“If you decide to proceed, we’ll need Alakazam’s consent.”

“Of course.”

“Okay, then. After I let him in, you will ask him, and the nurse and I will be witnesses to his decision. Please sign this form here,” the doctor took out a sheet from his briefcase. The contract was borderline horrifying with all the things the doctor and his Beheeyem needed to be absolved of responsibility for, but Blue signed it anyway since he couldn’t think of much he could do by himself to help.

The doctor put the paper back and called on the nurse, who escorted a shell-shocked Alakazam in. The moment he met his trainer’s eyes, he started vigorously nodding.

The contract had stated that the question had to be verbal, so Blue asked anyway and Alakazam kept nodding.

“Okay then. Blue, please take Alakazam’s ball and be ready to call him back as soon as Beheeyem’s fingers stop glowing.”

The procedure only took a few minutes and afterwards, Blue immediately did as he’d been told.

“When will I know if he’s okay?”

“Beheeyem?” The doctor turned towards the Pokemon. They had some sort of exchange, after which the doctor smiled. “It went great! Alakazam’s senses might be a bit heightened in the next few days, so make sure to keep him in his ball or the PC, if he hasn’t eaten recently.”

Blue had already read all of that in the contract, but he nodded anyway.

“Well, that’d be all.” The doctor seemed to notice Blue’s distress since his face softened a bit. “Look, kid, we all make mistakes sometimes. Alakazam will be fine. Just try to be more considerate of your Pokemon in the future. If you’re still worried about anything, you can always reach me at the League’s Centre.”

Blue swallowed the subtle blow to his pride as a trainer and bowed, apologising in the most formal way he could think of. “Thank you for the help and I’m deeply sorry for troubling you with my inconsideration.”

“All ended well, so it’s alright, as long as you’ve learned your lesson.”

Blue took this as his cue to leave with his mood and self-respect somewhere in the gutter.

***

He started telling Red what’d happened some time after they’d quickly exited the Centre. He’d needed a while to silently fume about the general shittiness of life, but he'd managed to finish the story right before they'd gotten on Haxorus’ back.

“I’m trying not to be mad at Lizzie, but this  _ really _ sucked,” Blue shouted, trying to out-howl the freezing wind blowing in his face.

Red freed one of his hands from its hold onto Blue’s stomach to write on his back.  _ Alakazam will be fine, right? _

“The doctor said so, but he still went through all that. I’m such a horrible trainer.” It felt good to shout it into the blizzard. At least it was off his chest.

_ It’s not anyone’s fault. Just sucks that it happened. _

Blue sort of realised that, yet he couldn’t help but blame himself at least a little bit. He’d dumped Alakazam here to be a bodyguard-courier-security camera and he’d done it all without complaint only to end up traumatised with who knows what horrors.

They reached the Living Cave without any more talking, but the silence was broken once Blue noticed what Red’s idea of ‘travelling essentials’ entailed.

“Screw the hat, it’s too recognisable anyway. Take your sunscreen instead.”

“Why are you bringing three fishing rods, just get the Great one.”

“Fuck’s sake, don’t be disgusting! Leave Pikacunt’s snacks and take more underwear!”

All of Blue’s commands were met with an unusually low amount of bitching, which didn’t do much to lift his spirits, but at least it didn’t sour his mood even further.

They decided to leave Mewtwo’s ball there, just in case it wanted to come back. Blue promised to check on it at least once a week.

When Red was all packed, he stood at the cave’s entrance and asked for the hundredth time,  _ You sure you’re gonna be okay? _

“Fucking hell, Red, ask me that one more time and I’ll feed you your own gallbladder.”

Red nodded.  _ I’ll text if I find something. _

“You bet you will. Also, text me when you run out of money.”

Another nod, followed by a hesitant wave. Blue’s response was an eye roll and a shooing motion, to which Red nodded,  _ again _ , before finally heading out.

When Blue was sure he was gone, he let out a deep sigh and collapsed on the futon. It was Red’s, but it smelled nice and Blue didn’t feel like moving a whole of fifty centimetres to get to his own, so he crawled under the covers and tried to make himself sleep some more.

Surprisingly, it worked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say a week? Well, what can I say, I'm untrustworthy. But lemme just say how much of a royal thorn in my ass this mfkn chapter was. I thought I was done with it, ended up hating it and having to rewrite the whole thing, only to hate it even more. Here's version three. It's a monster, but shit really needed to be laid out on the table.  
> (Also, life is real busy, but that's such a privilege right now that I won't even complain about it. That's a first. Hope everyone's okay and thanks for the lovely comments on the last one!)


End file.
